Department for Transport

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Appeals

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of appeals against the DVLA for decisions relating to (a) penalty points and (b) driving licence (i) suspensions and (ii) revocations were upheld in the last calendar year.

Jesse Norman: Only the courts can order penalty points to be applied to a driver’s licence. Appeals against penalty points and other driving convictions are not appeals against the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).The DVLA can revoke driving licences in certain circumstances, usually if the driver does not meet the medical standards for fitness to drive, or does not have leave to remain in the UK. In 2017, there were 226 appeals against driving licence revocations, three of which were upheld by the courts.

Bus Services: Community Transport

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of bus services in England are community-run.

Jesse Norman: In England, as of 20 June 2018, 827 community bus services are registered by holders of section 22 Community Bus Permits. This represents nearly five per cent of all local bus services that are registered with the Traffic Commissioners. The Department does not have figures for the number of bus services provided by section 19 permit holders, since these do not have to be registered.

Network Rail

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) salary (b) bonuses (c) car allowance and (d) other benefits received by the Chief Executive of Network Rail in each of the last three years.

Joseph Johnson: The remuneration package offered to Network Rail’s chief executive is published on an annual basis within Network Rail’s Annual Report. Network Rail’s Annual Reports can are available at:https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/publications-resources/regulatory-and-licensing/annual-report/.

Network Rail

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many days leave was taken by the Chief Executive of Network Rail in each of the last three years.

Joseph Johnson: 2015/16 – 18 days taken2016/17 – 25 days taken2017/18 – 28 days takenTo date Mark Carne has taken two days of annual leave this calendar year.

Mileometers: Fraud

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ensure that falsified mileage records are correcting in the DVLA database; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: There is currently no legal requirement for a registered keeper to supply the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) with mileage data. If the keeper chooses to provide mileage data to the DVLA, it is recorded in good faith. This data is then provided to vehicle data companies who may make further checks as to its accuracy. Mileage data is also recorded by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) when a vehicle undergoes a roadworthiness test (MOT). Members of the public can access the last recorded mileage information when viewing the vehicle history information on GOV.UK.

Railways: Trespass

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle trespassing on trainlines in the West Midlands.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

M6

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 146923 on M6, whether transport infrastructure improvements to Junction 23 of the M6 Motorway is planned to be included in the Road investment Strategy 2 to be delivered between 2020-2025.

Jesse Norman: The Department plans to publish an investment plan for the second road investment strategy in 2019.

Department for Transport: Research

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what government targets are in place for spending on research and development in (a) automotive, (b) aviation and (c) rail technologies.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government has no targets or any specific limitations in place for spending on research and development in automotive, aviation and rail technologies.

Midland Main Railway Line

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was of the Midland Mainline speed improvements carried out under the 2010-2015 Government; and what the average train time from Sheffield to London was (a) before and (b) after those improvements.

Joseph Johnson: In December 2013 the launch of the new faster journeys of two hours between London St. Pancras and Sheffield occurred, an average journey time reduction of 7 minutes and came off the back of a £100 million investment programme delivered by Network Rail in partnership with East Midlands Trains.

Shipping: Pay

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2018 to Question 152138, on shipping: pay, whether his Department monitors the effect of agreements reached in that sub-committee on (a) seafarers and (b) shipowners in the UK.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government does not set a sectoral minimum wage for the Maritime Sector and does not monitor the effect of the agreements set by the bipartite International Labour Organization (ILO) Joint Maritime Commission's Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers. Information relating to the subcommittee is in the public domain and can be found on the ILO website.

Shipping: Pay

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2018 to Question 152138, on shipping: pay, who the UK representatives of (a) seafarers and (b) shipowners are who have attended meetings of the bi-partite sub-committee since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers met in April 2011, February 2014 and April 2016. The June 2018 meeting has been postponed to November 2018. Information about the UK representatives who have attended the meeting can be found in the final report of each session accessed using the following links: http://www.ilo.org/sector/activities/sectoral-meetings/WCMS_161474/lang--en/index.htm http://www.ilo.org/sector/WCMS_250409/lang--en/index.htm http://www.ilo.org/sector/Resources/publications/WCMS_534027/lang--en/index.htm

Shipping

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on developing an industrial strategy for the maritime sector in (a) Wales and (b) the UK since the publication of the Green Paper entitled Building our Industrial Strategy in January 2017.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to develop a maritime sector deal to increase (a) employment, (b) training and (c) economic activity in the (i) ports and (ii) shipping industries of (A) Wales and (B) the UK.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The maritime industry plays a vital role in our economy. As a sector that depends on its skilled workforce, that is geographically spread across the country and is forward looking, it potentially has much to offer to drive growth across the UK, including Wales. Following the publication of the Industrial Strategy Green Paper in January 2017, Maritime UK identified itself as a sector champion and sought to corral potential bids for a sector deal into one place. I welcome the leadership that Maritime UK has demonstrated, and recognise the hard work that industry has put into this. I will continue to support and work closely with them to produce a compelling bid for a sector deal.Additionally, we are working to coordinate the submission of the sector deal with our Maritime 2050 strategy, which is a long term strategic vision for the sector. The overarching aim is to establish clear trajectories against which government and business can plan for the long-term, maintaining our position as a global maritime leader and delivering future prosperity.

Railways: Infrastructure

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2018 to Question 144821, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of cable theft incidents on railway infrastructure on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Joseph Johnson: On the Tyne and Wear Metro, British Transport Police (BTP) is responsible for policing the route and stations from Pelaw to South Hylton, with Northumbria Police having responsibility for the rest of the network, which makes up the majority. There are monthly partnership meetings between BTP, Tyne & Wear Metro and Northumbria Police to review crime levels on the network. BTP assesses that the trend for the level of theft of cable crimes recorded has been stable over the last five years.

Helicopters: Licensing

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making Civil Aviation Authority helicopter tourist flight licenses subject to appeals by residents affected by those flights.

Jesse Norman: All United Kingdom commercial helicopter operators require an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. The requirements for the granting of an AOC are set out in legislation, and are concerned with an operator’s ability to fulfil their responsibilities for safety. This approval process is not designed to take into account the environmental effect of individual flights. It would not be possible to take the views of affected residents into account because the AOC is not based on specific flying routes. Affected people with concerns over airspace or environmental effects, can inform the CAA using the Airspace Use Report (FCS 1521) form which can be downloaded from its website.

Air Traffic Control: France

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the recent French Parliament report by Vincent Capo-Canellas which estimates that one third of European flight delays are caused by French air traffic control.

Jesse Norman: The Government has made no such assessment of our policies. We regret the disruption European air traffic control strikes have on passengers and recognise that their effects need to be mitigated by wherever possible. NATS, the UKs en route air navigation service provider, is working actively with other European air navigation service providers to do what it can to mitigate the effect of strikes.

Ports: Felixstowe

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the delays and cancellations caused by the implementation of the new nGen terminal IT system at the port of Felixstowe.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The recent delays at Felixstowe are a matter for the port to resolve. I understand that steps are being taken to rectify the problem and the situation is already improving. The delays do not impact on government’s market led port policy that sees a successful, competitive port sector. As such we continue to welcome the ongoing private sector investment at the Port of Felixstowe to enhance both its physical and digital infrastructure for the long term, whilst port development elsewhere means vessels were able to call at other suitable UK ports as needed.

Shipping: Bristol Channel

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential for a modal shift from road to sea through the revival of shipping routes in the Bristol Channel between ports in Wales and England.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: No specific assessment has been made of Bristol Channel shipping routes. In the first instance shipping services are undertaken on a private sector basis. The choice of routes operated will therefore be dependent on potential market volumes, competition and the commercial viability of these. Some, very limited funding support via Waterborne Freight Grant is available for coastal shipping, in recognition of its wider benefits over road transport. Recent research is planned to be published about potential changes to this support regime. The recent Department for Transport report “Transport Infrastructure for our global future: a study of England’s port connectivity”, has committed to work with the maritime industry to better understand the barriers, challenges and market opportunities for coastal shipping.

Driving under Influence

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing drink-driving limits in England and Wales in line with those in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no current plans to lower the drink drive limit and considers rigorous enforcement and serious penalties for drink drivers to be effective deterrents.

Heathrow Airport

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of expansion at Heathrow airport on airports in the West Midlands.

Jesse Norman: A Northwest Runway at Heathrow will improve the UK’s connectivity, with more frequent services to important global destinations benefitting passengers and freight-operators across the UK. While Heathrow expansion will help to secure the UK’s status as a global aviation hub, it will also see airports across the country continuing to develop their point-to-point networks. The Department’s forecasts show that passenger numbers and international flights at non-London airports are expected to increase by 80 per cent and 71 per cent respectively between 2016 and 2050 with a third runway at Heathrow. The Government recognises that all three expansion schemes in the South East are projected to result in regional airports experiencing lower growth in flights than they would have otherwise seen, but strong growth is still expected at non-London airports relative to today.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the proposed western rail access to Heathrow.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Great Western Railway Line: Heathrow Airport

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a breakdown of the funding identified for the proposed western access rail to Heathrow; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Roads: Litter

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Highways England on the removal of litter from the edge of the roads for which that organisation has responsibility.

Jesse Norman: The Secretary of State for Transport and the Roads Minister discuss issues affecting Highways England regularly with the Chief Executive of Highways England, and these discussions are continued at official level. Issues covered include the provision of litter collection by the side of the Strategic Road Network and progress on delivery of commitments set out in the Government Litter Strategy 2017.

Roads: Litter

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the (a)  Freight Transport Association and (b) Road Haulage Association on measures to prevent litter from being blown off open lorries and left as litter on the roadside.

Jesse Norman: The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency has published guidance on securing loads carried on vehicles. The guidance states that tarpaulins or netting/sheeting should be used on tippers, bulk containers and skips to stop loose items from falling. The Litter Strategy for England 2017 sets out the commitment of the Government and Highways England to a range of measures to reduce roadside litter on motorways and a small number of all-purpose trunk roads. The responsibility for litter clearance on the rest of the trunk road network lies with the relevant local district and borough councils.

Northern: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the number of people in Warrington North constituency who will be eligible to claim compensation for delays since the new timetable was introduced on Northern Rail.

Joseph Johnson: A special compensation scheme for inconvenienced passengers is being established and details will be announced by Transport for the North.

Northern: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the effect of Northern Rail disruption on the North West's economy.

Joseph Johnson: An estimate on the effect of Northern Rail disruption on the North West economy has not been made. It is the Department’s top priority to make sure that the industry restores reliability for passengers to an acceptable level as soon as possible.

Network Rail: Tree Felling

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any tree-felling has taken place on Network Rail land since the implementation of the ban on tree felling.

Joseph Johnson: Since the suspension came into force on the 11th May, Network Rail has removed trees in accordance with its updated published position statement on vegetation management. This states that only safety critical tree felling can be performed on Network Rail land during the current nesting season.

Parking: Disability

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the level of penalty charges issued for blocking disabled parking spaces on changing behaviour.

Jesse Norman: The Government believes that the current levels of penalty charges are effective and has no plans to change them. Parking in a disabled space without displaying a valid Blue Badge is a ‘higher level’ parking contravention, so it is already subject to a higher level of penalty charge than ‘lower level’ contraventions.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the exemption from MOT testing of classic vehicles which are at least 40 years old.

Jesse Norman: EU Directive 2014/45 enabled Member States to exempt vehicles over 30 years old from periodic roadworthiness testing. Following implementation of this Directive, changes to the MOT exemption criteria for vehicles of historic interest came into force on 20 May 2018, in Great Britain. These changes were made following public consultation and publication of an impact assessment. No further formal review of the effectiveness of these changes has been conducted.

Roads: South East

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money from the public purse has been provided to (a) Medway, (b) Kent and (c) the South East for the repair of potholes and the prevention of potholes.

Jesse Norman: The Government is providing Medway Local Highway Authority £10.577 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £0.619 million from the Pothole Action Fund to allow the repair of potholes or stop them forming in the first place. The Government is providing Kent Local Highway Authority £113.334 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £6.764 million from the Pothole Action Fund to allow the repair of potholes or stop them forming in the first place. The Government is providing the South East’s highway authorities £619.145 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £36.503 million from the Pothole Action Fund to allow the repair of potholes or stop them forming in the first place. In addition, the Department for Transport announced in January 2017 that it is undertaking an innovative trial on the way potholes are identified and managed, working in partnership with Thurrock, York and Wiltshire councils and two private sector SMEs, Soenecs and Gaist. This trial allows high-definition cameras to be mounted to refuse collection vehicles and by deploying innovative intelligent software will identify road surface problems before they become potholes. The trial recently won an award for the best use of new technology in the highways sector. The Government also announced, in March 2018, that it is investing more than £900,000 in innovations using connected vehicles to help councils manage and plan maintenance works more efficiently. These trials will ultimately help to provide councils with data to enable them to repair potholes before they occur as well as to maintain their other assets more effectively as part of their asset management plans. Finally, the Department for Transport is providing funding to the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to work on technological and innovative improvements to future-proof the local road network.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147430 on Nuclear Power Stations: Construction, what criteria his Department will use to decide for the release of future publications on value for money assessments of new nuclear power stations.

Richard Harrington: The Government published a value for money assessment for Hinkley Point C at the time of the deal being signed. As I said in my response on 4th June 2018 to Question 147430 the Government will ensure that appropriate value for money assessments are completed before any final deal on a new nuclear project is signed and will consider releasing future publications at the appropriate time. As my rt. hon. friend the Secretary of State committed in his statement to Parliament on 4th June 2018, the Department will continue to keep Parliament informed through the negotiation process.

Galileo System

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any non-EU member states that participate in Galileo have companies that have access to contracts in the Galileo satellite programme.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Third countries currently participate in the Galileo programme via Cooperation Agreements. Both Norway and Switzerland are participants and contributors in the Galileo and EGNOS programmes and may bid for certain contracts. For example, Switzerland supplies on-board clock technology for the Galileo satellites and Norway hosts parts of the system infrastructure on its territory. However, their industries are restricted from bidding for contracts that include sensitive elements.

Newspaper Press: Wholesale Trade

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to commission an investigation on the newspaper supply chain to examine the effect of wholesaler dominance on the newspaper industry.

Andrew Griffiths: Investigations into competition issues are a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s independent competition authority.

Conditions of Employment: Pregnancy

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to page eight of the the Government response to Women and Equality Select Committee Report on Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination, published in January 2017, what progress is being made to consider and bring forward proposals to ensure that employment protections are sufficient for those who are pregnant or returning from maternity leave.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government was responding to a recommendation about protection from redundancy. In the response to the Matthew Taylor Review of modern working practices, the Government committed to review the legislation relating to redundancy protection and consider whether this is sufficient. This work is underway.

Employment: Pregnancy

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate the Government has made of the number of women who could be experiencing discrimination at work whilst (a) pregnant, (b) on maternity leave and (c) returning from maternity leave; and what plans the Government has to regularly update those figures.

Andrew Griffiths: In 2016 EHRC published the findings of a substantial research programme (commissioned jointly with the then Department for Business Innovation and Skills) based on interviews with 3,034 employers and 3,254 mothers. This found that around one in nine mothers reported that they were either dismissed; made compulsorily redundant, where others in their workplace were not; or treated so poorly they felt they had to leave their job. The next estimate will be in 2020 to allow time for the current package of interventions to take effect. ln the interim Government will monitor others’ findings (such as the recent EHRC poll on employer attitudes) for any signs that the interventions are starting to have an impact or of changes in employers’ practices.

Employment Tribunals Service: Pregnancy

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of cases of maternity discrimination that have been taken to Employment Tribunals in each of the past five years.

Andrew Griffiths: The number of cases of maternity discrimination taken to employment tribunals can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The data for the last five years is as follows: Number of receipts (claims):Financial Year Suffer a detriment/unfair dismissal maternity2013/14 - 1,2482014/15 - 7902015/16 - 8652016/17 - 8722017/18 - 1,336 Number of disposals (cases closed):Financial Year Suffer a detriment/unfair dismissal maternity2013/14 - 1,4262014/15 - 9552015/16 - 8562016/17 - 7792017/18 - 930

Employment Tribunals Service

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of Employment Tribunal cases that have successfully been brought beyond the three-month court time limit.

Andrew Griffiths: Government has figures available for the first quarter. Over that period, 21 cases were received out of time citing pregnancy/maternity as the reason. All of these cases were accepted.

Retail Trade: Sales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assesment his Department has made of trends in retail sales over the last three years.

Andrew Griffiths: The UK retail sector forms a vital part of the UK economy. Statistics for 2018 are yet to be published, but for the 3-year period from 2014-2017, retail sales grew from £334 billion in 2014 to £362 billion in 2017, representing growth of 8.6%. In 2017, internet sales as a proportion of total retail sales was 16% compared to 11% in 2014.

Insurance: Liability

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the public liability claims handling process of the non-disclosure by organisations of their public liability insurer.

Andrew Griffiths: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 27th April 2018 to Question 137508.

Exports: USA

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many FTE staff in his Department have been liaising with (a) UK steel representatives and (b) US importers on applications for product exemptions under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many FTE staff in his Department have been liaising with (a) UK steel representatives and (b) US importers on applying for product exemptions under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

Richard Harrington: The US administration has a process for domestic US steel consumers to apply for individual product exclusions from US s232 measures. Ministers have held regular meetings with industry and unions to discuss US s232, including hosting the Steel Council on 18th June. The Department hosted a meeting on 5 June between US lawyers and UK steel and aluminium industry representatives to share information on the product exclusion process.The Department has been working tirelessly on these issue for many months, working in partnership with colleagues from Department of Trade, Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Cabinet Office.We remain in regular dialogue with UK industry and will support them through this process where possible. Details of the process are set out on the US Department of Commerce website.

Plastics: Marine Environment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Marine Plastics Research and Innovation Framework will have funding allocated from Official Development Aid.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The UK £25m contribution to the Commonwealth Marine Plastics Research and Innovation Framework will come from a number of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA sources, including planned government-funded research and innovation activities and new activities from unallocated budgets.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Military Intervention

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to Written Ministerial Statement of 23 May 2018 on Saudi Arabia, HCWS716, whether the UK's new agreement with Saudi Arabia includes the provision of (a) information, (b) advice and (c) assistance for (i) Saudi Arabian or (ii) Saudi-led Coalition military operations in Yemen; and whether that agreement will classify the UK as a belligerent party to the conflict in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The assistance, information and advice is limited to Saudi Arabia's mitigation of the threat of missiles fired from Houthi territory. This does not mean that we are joining the Saudi-led Coalition operating in Yemen. The UK will have no role in setting Coalition policy or executing air strikes. Our assistance is limited to addressing this specific threat which is damaging the prospects for the political solution in Yemen that this Government is working hard to help deliver.

Liu Xia

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese Government about the ongoing house arrest of Liu Xia.

Mark Field: We remain very concerned about Liu Xia's wellbeing. We urge the Chinese authorities to ensure all restrictions on her are lifted and that she be allowed to travel overseas if she wishes. The Prime Minister raised her case with Premier Li Keqiang in February 2018, during her visit to China.

Hong Kong: Railways

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the validity of the Hong Kong Bar Association’s statement that the co-location Bill on law enforcement at West Kowloon station irreparably breaches Hong Kong's Basic Law.

Mark Field: As set out in the Foreign Secretary’s most recent six-monthly report to Parliament, which was published on 15 March, the British Government understands the concerns that have been raised by the Hong Kong Bar Association and others about the legal base for the proposal for co-location and its impact on ‘One Country, Two Systems’. The six-monthly report also notes that while the economic case for the High Speed Rail Link is clear, it is important that the final arrangements for a joint border checkpoint on the territory of the Special Administrative Region are consistent with the principles of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and with Hong Kong’s Basic Law. Following the recent passage of the Co-location Bill in the Legislative Council, we will continue to monitor developments closely.

Russia: Sanctions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government (a) supports and (b) is taking action to align UK sanctions policy with  the EU sanctions policy in respect of the Russian Government’s annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol which was renewed on 18 June 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK fully supported the renewal of Crimea and Sevastopol economic sanctions, in line with its firm stance of non-recognition of Russian control of the peninsula. The UK currently implements sanctions through the EU, including those on Crimea, and has been at the forefront of sanctions against Russia since 2014. The UK remains fully committed to our obligations and commitments as an EU Member State.

Indonesia: Terrorism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provides to Indonesia to tackle the threat posed by ISIS terrorists.

Mark Field: For over a decade the British and Indonesian governments have worked together to tackle the threat posed by international terrorist groups. Last month’s attack on three churches in Surabaya underlined the importance of this cooperation. We have had a Counter Terrorism capacity-building programme in Indonesia since the 2002 terrorist attack in Bali. Our support includes teaching a broad range of counter terrorism investigation skills. This support helps the Indonesian authorities defend against all terrorist threats.​

Turkey: Currencies

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Turkish Government on the fall in the value of the Turkish lira.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have regular discussions with the Turkish government and the Central Bank of Turkey over economic and fiscal issues as part of our normal day to day diplomatic engagement. This includes fluctuations in currency values.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Contracts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2018 to Question 146171 on procurement, what the daily rate of pay is of each of those contractors who have been employed by his Department for five years or more.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO has employed six contractors for five years or more. Some are paid hourly rates and not daily rates. On the basis that 7.5 hours is a work day, the daily rates for the six contractors range from £94.42 per day up to £353 per day.

Israel: Bedouin

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on Palestinian communities of Israel’s plans for demolition of buildings in the village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank; and what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on this issue.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary raised the issue of the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 6 June. He also issued a statement on 1 June calling on Israel to reconsider its proposals to demolish the village, noting that approximately 180 people face the prospect of losing their homes and livelihoods. The UK is particularly concerned by the pending demolition of the village’s school, which serves 170 children. I visited the village on 30 May, and I emphasised the UK’s concern at the village’s imminent demolition, which the UN say could constitute forcible transfer. I reiterated these concerns to the Israeli Ambassador on 20 June.

Libya: Embassies

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the timescale is for re-opening the British Embassy in Libya.

Alistair Burt: We have a re-established a permanent presence in Tripoli, which means that our diplomats can make contact with a wide range of Libyans, including political actors at the highest levels. However, our Embassy remains temporarily closed and we do not yet provide consular or visa services in Libya. Timescales for the re-opening of the British Embassy will depend on the security situation in Tripoli. We are committed to working with the Libyan authorities to help provide greater security, stability and prosperity for the Libyan people.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of President Mnangagwa’s first six months in office in Zimbabwe on relations with UK.

Harriett Baldwin: The British Government welcomes President Mnangagwa's commitment to political and economic reform. As we have made clear, including in the Foreign Secretary's meeting with Foreign Minister Moyo on 20 April, the Zimbabwe Government must deliver the free, fair and peaceful elections that the people of Zimbabwe deserve. Genuine reforms will enable the UK and the wider international community better to support Zimbabwe's recovery.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Visits Abroad

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans for overseas travel on departmental business on 25-28 June, 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​It has been the policy of successive governments not to publicise itemised details of Ministers' forthcoming travel plans.

USA: Undocumented Migrants

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make urgent representations to the US Administration on the separation of children from their parents in immigration detention in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​As the Prime Minister said on 20 June, the reports and pictures we have seen in the past couple of days are deeply disturbing and wrong. We do not apply similar measures here and will never do so. Later on 20 June, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at ending the separation policy.

Antarctic: Marine Protected Areas

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on encouraging other members of the Antarctic Commission to accept an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary in the Weddell Sea.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK is a proactive member of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and is committed to establishing a representative network of marine protected areas around Antarctica. The UK is a co-proponent of the proposal to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea, which was submitted by the European Union and its Member States to the annual meeting of the CCAMLR in 2016. UK scientists continue to lead on the development of the proposal, chairing an expert workshop earlier in the year. The finalised proposal will be tabled for adoption at the next annual CCAMLR meeting in October 2018. The UK will continue to work with other CCAMLR Members to secure agreement to the Weddell Sea MPA proposal, and further MPA proposals around East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Official Visits

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) protocols, (b) agreements and (c) understandings are in place on visits by Ministers of other countries to the UK for official purposes.

Sir Alan Duncan: There are no formal agreements in place. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has responsibility for organising inward visits by senior Ministers from other countries at the invitation of Her Majesty's Government. Visit programmes are discussed and agreed with the visiting delegation on a case-by-case basis.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the status of the Kingdom of Morocco in Western Sahara.

Alistair Burt: The UK considers the status of Western Sahara to be undetermined. We support UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution to this issue that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government holds the status of Western Sahara to be that of a non-self-governing territory.

Alistair Burt: The UK considers the status of Western Sahara to be undetermined. We support UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution to this issue that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Israel: Palestinians

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UN Children's Fund report entitled Children in Israeli Military Detention: Observations and Recommendations, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart following the publication of (a) that report and (b) update bulletins which have followed that report's publication.

Alistair Burt: Children in Israeli military detention remains a human rights priority for the UK. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the issue with the Israeli authorities on 7 February, and a senior official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised this issue with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 11 May. We also raised the issue as part of the UK's national statement during Israel's Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council. We welcome progress made in recent Israeli policy amendments, and remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to its practices surrounding children in detention.

Central America: Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on retaining the trade pillar of the current EU Central America Trade Agreement.

Mark Field: ​As agreed at the March European Council, during the implementation period the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements. This includes the EU Central America Association Agreement. This provides certainty and confidence that there will be no disruption to existing relationships underpinned by international agreements. We are engaging with partner countries to ensure continuity of the effect of existing agreements, adjusted appropriately to reflect our departure from the European Union.

USA: Undocumented Migrants

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with his US counterpart on the detention of unaccompanied children on the USA-Mexico border.

Sir Alan Duncan: As the Prime Minister said on 20 June, the reports and pictures we have seen in the past couple of days are deeply disturbing and wrong. We do not apply similar measures here and will never do so. Later on 20 June, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at ending the separation policy.

Israel: Farms

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the extent of the damage caused to farmland in Israel by fire kites being launched from Gaza.

Alistair Burt: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received reports from our Embassy in Tel Aviv that fires were caused by kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices or burning rags launched from Gaza. Thsese have destroyed forests, burned crops and killed wildlife and livestock. We understand that millions of shekels worth of damage have been caused. Such actions are destructive to peace efforts. We call on all sides to show restraint.

Iran: Exports

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 146957, and given that payment for medicines is not exempt from US sanctions, how UK entities will be able to sell medicine into Iran when payment cannot be made from Iranian to UK banks.

Alistair Burt: ​Payments for medical supplies are not subject to US sanctions. Whether to engage in transactions with Iran, including in sectors exempted from US sanctions – such as medical supplies – remains a commercial decision for individual banks. However, this Government encourages legitimate trade with Iran and continues to engage US and European counterparts to help facilitate this.

Syria: Terrorism

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what resources the Government has allocated to tracking UK jihadis in Syria; and how many UK nationals are (a) fighting with (i) Daesh and (ii) other armed groups in Syria and (b) held captive by any party to the conflict in Syria.

Alistair Burt: We have committed considerable resource to our work with the Global Coalition Against Daesh, and European and regional partners, to develop international and collective solutions to the problems posed by foreign fighters operating in Syria. In particular we have focused on increasing information and evidence sharing amongst partners overseas and ensuring that all affected countries are taking steps to minimise the risk posed by the dispersal and return of such fighters. Approximately 900 people of national security concern who have travelled from the UK to engage in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. We do not comment on the details of our activity in this area or on the number of UK nationals being held captive by any party to the conflict in Syria for national security reasons.

USA: Undocumented Migrants

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the US policy of separating families of arriving immigrants.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​As the Prime Minister said on 20 June, the reports and pictures we have seen in the past couple of days are deeply disturbing and wrong. We do not apply similar measures here and will never do so. Later on 20 June, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at ending the separation policy.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 14 June 2018, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the recommendations of that report is given serious consideration by the Governments of India and Pakistan.

Mark Field: ​The British Government has taken note of the concerns across Kashmir raised in the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' report and his recommendations for both the Governments of India and Pakistan to consider. We encourage all states to cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and ensure that their domestic laws are in line with international human rights standards.The FCO is concerned by any allegation of human rights abuse, which much must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. The UK's longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking account of the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or act as a mediator.

Northern Ireland Office

Tourism: Northern Ireland

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2018 to Question 152673, what the planned publication date is for the detailed consultative report on the impact of VAT and APD on tourism in Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley: As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, the Government will report at the next Budget on the outcome of this Call for Evidence.

Department of Health and Social Care

Breast Cancer: Screening

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 4 June 2018 on Breast Cancer Screening Update, HCWS731, and the figures contained in that statement, what criteria his Department used to determine which women would be contacted; and how many and what proportion of women who were not affected by the breast cancer screening computer failure were contacted by his Department.

Steve Brine: Initial analysis of records held by NHS Digital suggested that 195,568 women were registered with a general practitioner in England and had not been invited as expected for a breast screen between their 68th and 71st birthdays. These women were all sent a letter to alert them to the potential problem as soon as possible. Subsequent analysis showed that 72,839 (37%) of them had received a screen or an invitation for a screen between their 68th and 71st birthday. The main reason for the discrepancy was that, in line with usual practice, women who move house are sent invitations to both addresses, while some had been invited before their 68th birthday but screened after it.

Diabetes

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will fund approved diagnostics for diabetes.

Steve Brine: As part of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, NHS England has provided implementation funding to local health economies (sustainability and transformation partnerships and their partner clinical commissioning groups, and local authorities) to support the identification, coding, and onward referral of those individuals at high risk of type 2 diabetes. Eligibility is defined by a blood glucose reading (HbA1C or FPG) within the last 12 months in the at risk category.

Donors: Ethnic Groups

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people from BAME backgrounds have died as a result of there not being a blood, organ or stem cell donor who is a match.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for the collection, manufacturing and issuing of blood products to the National Health Service in England; for organ and tissue donation in the United Kingdom; and for the British Bone Marrow Registry, to which it recruits registered blood donors to be potential stem cell donors. NHS Blood and Transplant does not collect data in the form requested. The following table shows the most recent annual data on the ethnicity of the patients who have died whilst they were on the waiting list for an organ transplant, but this does not include patients who have died after being removed from the transplant waiting list or patients who were too ill to be added to the waiting list.  2016/17White423Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic86Not reported1Total510 Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, 2018 The 2016 annual report of the independent UK haemovigilance scheme, Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT), shows no report of patients not being transfused or being under-transfused as a result of there not being a blood donor who was a match.

Public Health England: Telephone Services

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what key performance indicators his Department uses to measure the delivery of Public Health England contracts by externally-operated contact centres in respect of their call-handling times.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department measures the performance of Public Health England contracts being delivered by externally-operated contact centres against key performance indicators.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department takes in circumstances in which an externally-operated contact centre delivering Public Health England contracts fails to adhere to agreed key performance indicators.

Steve Brine: Public Health England requires the supplier to answer at least 85% of calls within 10 seconds during normal business as usual activities. This figure is averaged over the calendar month. Reporting on the call handling Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is done on a weekly and monthly basis as well as being looked at in more depth as part of the quarterly business review. The figures are taken directly from the telephony systems. Depending on the circumstances of the failure to meet the agreed KPI, the company would be put under a performance review and officials would consider imposing any financial penalty that was stated in the contract.

Carers: Employment

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication, Carers Action Plan 2018-2020, published June 2018, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on providing employment rights to unpaid carers.

Caroline Dinenage: The Carers Action Plan set out our commitment to raising the profile of carers with employers to encourage them to improve their practices to enable carers to continue to work alongside their caring role. Ministers meet regularly to discuss labour market issues. The question of dedicated employment rights for carers (alongside existing employment rights - such as the right to request flexible working and the right to time off for family and dependents) has been part of those discussions. The Carers Action Plan makes a specific commitment to consider the crucial questions around introducing dedicated employment rights. The Action Plan makes the following explicit commitment on employment rights for informal carers:- The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are considering the question of dedicated employment rights for carers alongside existing employment rights (such as the right to request flexible working and the right to time off for family and dependents);- We have set up an official level working group (the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury) to work on this; and- This includes considering the crucial questions that arise around introducing dedicated employment rights with the support of analysts so that any emerging carers leave proposal is most effective.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 3 May 2018 to Questions 139593 and 139592, for what reasons (a) neonatal herpes has not yet been considered for categorisation as a notifiable disease and (b) no information on the incidence of that disease is held centrally.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Type 1 and 2 of the herpes infection were considered for categorisation as a notifiable disease in 2010 when the Health Protection Regulations were undergoing development; expert opinion and consultation concluded that they should not be included. Further information is available at the following link: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Closedconsultations/DH_102134 Hospital Episode Statistics do collect diagnoses of herpes; however, it is not possible to identify neonates. This is because identifiers including date of birth are stripped from records submitted with sensitive codes such as sexually transmitted diseases.

NHS: Finance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) cash sum and (b) real terms increase in NHS funding is planned to be for (i) 2018-2019, (ii) 2019-2020, (iii) 2020-2021, (iv) 2021-2022 and (v) 2022-2023.

Stephen Barclay: My Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by over £20 billion, in real terms, by 2023-24. The planned resource budgets for NHS England; and what these amount to as additional funding in real terms, are included in the following table. These planned increases will be confirmed at a future fiscal event, subject to an NHS plan that meets the tests we have set out. Planned NHS England resource budgets, 2018-19 to 2023-24NHS England Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (excluding depreciation)2018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24New nominal budget (£ billion)114.60120.55126.91133.15139.83147.76Cumulative real growth (2018/19 prices) (£ billion) 4.18.312.116.120.5Real growth (%) 3.6%3.6%3.1%3.1%3.4%   Plus pensions funding (£ billion nominal) 1.251.251.251.251.25Revised new nominal budget (£ billion)114.60121.80128.16134.40141.08149.01 This breakdown can also be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-5-year-nhs-funding-plan

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the (a) Resources Department Expenditure Limit (RDEL), (b) Capital Department Expenditure Limit and (c) Total Department Expenditure Limit (TDEL) for his Department in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21, (e) 2021-22, (f) 2022-23, and (g) 2023-24.

Stephen Barclay: The Department’s Resource Department Expenditure Limit (RDEL), Capital Department Expenditure Limit (CDEL), and Total Department Expenditure Limit (TDEL) for the years 2017-18 to 2020-21 can be found in the following table: Department of Health and Social Care RDEL, CDEL and TDEL, 2017-18 to 2020-21  2017-1812018-1922019-2032020-214£ billion£ billion£ billion£ billionRDEL121.3123.5125.7128.7CDEL5.66.46.76.8TDEL5125.4128.4130.9133.9 The Department’s Departmental Expenditure Limits for 2021-22 onwards have not yet been confirmed. The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by over £20 billion, in real terms, by 2023-24. The figures exclude the associated planned additions to resource budgets for NHS England in 2019-20 and 2020-21, which will be confirmed at a future fiscal event and which are not yet reflected in the Department’s Departmental Expenditure Limits. They also exclude the additional funding that the Government will provide to the NHS in the current financial year to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs. More information on the recent announcement of the five-year funding agreement for the NHS can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-5-year-nhs-funding-plan Notes: 1. RDEL and CDEL figures are from Page 151 of the 2017-18 Supplementary Estimate publication 2017-18 Supplementary Estimate can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2017-18 2. RDEL and CDEL figures are from Page 127 the 18-19 Main Estimate publication 2018-19 Supplementary Estimate can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2018-to-2019 3. RDEL for 2019-20 is from two sources. The 2017 Autumn Budget statement shows the RDEL (excluding depreciation) of £124.2 billion which can be found in Table 1.7. The depreciation of £1.5 billion can be found in Annex A (Page 164) of the 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report. CDEL can be found in Table 1.8 of the 2017 Autumn Budget statement. 2017 Autumn Budget statement can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2017-documents 4. RDEL figures are from Annex A in the Core Tables of the 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report. CDEL figures are from Table 1.8 of the 2017 Autumn Budget statement. 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-of-health-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017 5. In line with HM Treasury’s budgeting guidance, TDEL figures are calculated as RDEL excluding depreciation plus CDEL. The depreciation figures for all years were set out in Annex A of the Department of Health and Social Care’s 2016/17 Annual Report. 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-of-health-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister’s of 18 June 2018 on the NHS, what (a) baseline year and (b) baseline NHS England budget was used to calculate that NHS England’s budget would be £394 million a week higher in real terms by 2023-24.

Stephen Barclay: The baseline year for the five-year funding agreement, covering NHS England resource budgets, is 2018-19. The 2018-19 baseline has been uplifted by £800 million to take account of additional funding that the Government will provide to the National Health Service in the current financial year to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs – as previously announced. This baseline excludes NHS England revenue budgets for depreciation and impairments, which will be handled separately. This information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-5-year-nhs-funding-plan

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech  of 18 June 2018 on the NHS, whether revenue dedicated to the Better Care Fund was included in NHS England’s budget in the baseline year  for the purposes of calculating that NHS England’s budget would be £394 million a week higher in real terms by 2023-24.

Stephen Barclay: Revenue dedicated to the Better Care Fund was included in the 2018-19 baseline for NHS England’s resource budgets for the five-year funding agreement announced by the Prime Minister.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral statement of 18 June 2018 on NHS Long-Term Plan, Official Report, column 51, on what date he plans to place in the Library details of the NHS funding settlement.

Stephen Barclay: The details of the National Health Service funding settlement were placed in the Library on Tuesday 19 June 2018.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate (a) his Department and (b) HM Treasury have made of the cost to (i) his Department's  Departmental Expenditure Limit and (ii) NHS organisations of the recently announced NHS pay deal; and whether that cost was included in the baseline NHS England budget used to calculate that the NHS England’s budget would be £394 million a week higher in real terms by 2023-24.

Stephen Barclay: The Government has previously confirmed that it would make available £4.2 billion to fund the three year pay deal for those staff employed under the Agenda for Change contract. The 2018-19 baseline for the recent five-year funding agreement for the National Health Service has been uplifted by £800 million to take account of additional funding that the Government will provide to the NHS in the current financial year to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs. The additional funding to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs in 2019-20 and 2020-21 is included within the planned additions to resource budgets for NHS England in 2019-20 and 2020-21. More information on the recent announcement of the five-year funding agreement for the NHS can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-5-year-nhs-funding-plan

NHS: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding will be allocated to services in Coventry in each of the next five years as a result of the five-year NHS funding plan announced by the Government on 18 June 2018.

Stephen Barclay: The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by over £20 billion by 2023/24. The Government will work with the NHS to develop a ten-year plan setting out how the money will be used for the future of the health service across policy areas, which will then inform local allocations, including for Coventry.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust: Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that A&E targets are met by the University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Improvement advises that University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust holds a fortnightly emergency department system meeting that brings together all partners to analyse data and refresh the Trust’s action plan. The Trust is currently implementing a staffing investment plan and many important positions are now permanently filled. Between March and May 2018 there was an increase of 11.2 percentage points in the number of people who were seen and then treated, admitted, or discharged within four hours.

Social Services

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on social care in each local authority in England in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is available in the attached table.



PQ155283 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 750.05 KB)

NHS: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Lord O’Shaughnessy’s statement on the BBC Daily Politics on 18 June 2018 that the scheduled £22bn of NHS efficiency savings are on target, if he will place in the Library (a) an assessment of efficiency savings made by the NHS since 2015 and (b) an estimate of the total value of efficiency savings made by the NHS since 2015.

Stephen Barclay: The National Health Service’s ‘Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View’ document sets out a 10 point plan for how efficiencies in Spending Review 2015 will be delivered. Progress on the 10 point efficiency plan is being monitored through provider Cost Improvement Programmes (CIPs), and commissioner Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention plans (QIPPs). These are not directly comparable to the original £22 billion savings target. That is because the £22 billion was the best estimate of savings at the time of the Spending Review 2015 settlement, but subsequent changes in activity, inflation, workforce and other factors have altered counterfactuals and calculations of efficiency opportunities. Nor do CIPs/QIPPs include an estimate of the savings from public sector pay restraint. The total value of efficiency savings made in this Spending Review period using CIPs/QIPPs is shown in the following table.  2016/172017/18TotalProvider CIPs£3.1 billion£3.2 billion£6.3 billionCommissioner QIPPs£2.5 billion£3.0 billion£5.5 billionTotal£5.6 billion£6.2 billion£11.8 billion Copies of NHS England’s board paper on their consolidated 2017/18 year end position, and NHS Improvement’s publication on performance in the provider sector for 2017/18 are attached. These include a more detailed assessment of CIP and QIPP delivery for that year.



PQ155313 attached document 1
(PDF Document, 1.86 MB)




PQ155313 attached document 2
(PDF Document, 115.83 KB)

Breastfeeding: North West

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money has been spent from the public purse per mother per year to support breastfeeding in (a) Wavertree constituency, (b) Liverpool, (c) the North West, and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data is not collected centrally on how much has been spent from the public purse per mother per year to support breastfeeding.

Stress: Employment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2018 to Question 140061 on Stress: Employment, in what way information has been collected on the cost to the NHS of treating people with work-related stress in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The vast majority of adult mental health costs are collected and reported by Mental Health Care Clusters (MHCCs). The MHCCs for working age adults and older people focus on the characteristics and needs of a patient under three broad diagnostic categories of organic, psychotic and non-psychotic, rather than the individual interventions they receive or their specific diagnosis. This means that specific mental health interventions, such as work-related stress, are subsumed within the overall cluster costs alongside any number of other conditions. It may also be that work-related stress could fall into multiple clusters depending on the severity of the condition and therefore it is not possible to identify separately the costs to the National Health Service of treating people with work-related stress.

NHS: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the NHS budget was spent commissioning (a) beds and (b) services from the private sector in each year since 2012.

Stephen Barclay: The Department does not hold the information as requested. Total spending by National Health Service commissioners on private health providers since 2012/13 for which figures are available is shown in the following table. NHS Commissioners' spend on non NHS bodies by organisation type2012/132013/142014/152015/16 (restated)2016/17 £ million£ million£ million£ million£ millionTotal spend on independent sector5,6696,4678,0678,8189,007Total NHS revenue expenditure102,570106,495110,551114,730117,031Spend on independent sector as a % of total NHS revenue spend5.5%6.1%7.3%7.7%7.7%Note: The numbers above have been collected separately from audited accounts data and may include estimations.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Inequalities of 19 February 2018, Official Report, whether his Department is still planning to provide a formal response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's report on Child Migrant Programmes published on 1 March 2018 which is separate to the planned response from the Prime Minister to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Interim Report which was published on 25 April 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government accepts that the child migration policy was misguided and deeply flawed. We are currently carefully considering the findings and recommendations made in the Child Migration Programmes report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and will respond in due course. We are acutely aware of the age and declining health of many former child migrants, and we are committed to providing a timely response to the Inquiry's recommendation.

Social Services: Finance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the survey conducted by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care (ADASS) entitled ADASS Budget Survey 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The annual Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) Budget Survey is an important resource in understanding the concerns of local authorities in relation to adult social care. The Department regularly meets with representatives from the Association and, in partnership with the Local Government Association; ADASS delivers a programme of sector led improvement in social care on behalf of the Department. The Government will set out further proposals for social care reform in due course, alongside the 10-year National Health Service plan. We will take into account representations such as the ADASS Budget Survey into account as we consider these.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) in-patient and (b) community mental health services for children and young people in (i) Coventry and (ii) the West Midlands.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information about performance against key mental health access and waiting times measures for clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in Coventry and the West Midlands is published in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard. The most recent information available for measures for mental health services for children and young people for Coventry and Rugby CCG is shown in the following table. The Dashboard gives more information on how to interpret these statistics, providing trend data as well as indicators showing what constitutes a positive measure.  Coventry and Rugby CCG data for Q1-Q2 2017/18Indicator*Reporting periodIndicator valuePercentage of children and young people with eating disorders seen within one week (urgent)Q3 2016/17 - Q2 2017/1850.0%Percentage of children and young people with eating disorders seen within four weeks (routine)Q3 2016/17 - Q2 2017/1867.4%Number of bed days for children and young people aged under 18 in child and adolescent mental health services tier 4 wardsQ1-Q2 2017/183,104Number of admissions of children and young people aged under 18 in child and adolescent mental health services tier 4 wardsQ1-Q2 2017/1826Children and young people aged mental health planned CCG spend - excluding learning disabilities and eating disorders2017/18£4.1 millionChildren and young people mental health planned CCG spend - eating disorders2017/18£723,000 Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/ The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects both community and inpatient mental health services. Its reports and ratings provide information that helps the Department and public understand the quality of care. Its reports are published on the CQC’s website at the following link: https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications

Mental Health Services: Agency Nurses

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of registered Mental Health Nurses working in services in (a) Coventry and (b) Coventry South constituency were agency staff in each year since 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold the information requested. In 2017-18 the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust spent £44.9 million on nursing (this data does not go to the level of mental health nursing and contains community nurses too). Of this, £2.8 million was spent on agency staff which equates to 6.3%.

Hospitals: Construction

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 June 2018, Official Report, column 173, what criteria are used to assess health need when determining the siting of a local hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England have set out in their Planning, Assuring and Delivering Service Changes for Patients guidance the principles and the following four tests in relation to services changes, including resiting a local hospital:- Strong public and patient engagement;- Consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice;- A clear, clinical evidence base; and- Support for proposals from clinical commissioners. The guidance also states that for any service change requiring public consultation which also requires capital funding, NHS England and NHS Improvement will assess any proposals to provide assurance that they do not require an unsustainable level of capital expenditure and that they will be affordable in revenue terms. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/planning-assuring-and-delivering-service-change-for-patients/

Mental Health Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the new funding for the NHS recently announced by the Prime Minister will be allocated to improving mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by over £20 billion, in real terms, by 2023-24. No decision has yet been taken on the share of funds to be allocated to improving mental health services under the multi-year financial settlement. However, the Government is clear that one of the principles the plan must deliver on is significantly improving access to good mental health services to deliver parity of esteem to an agreed timetable.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2018 to Question 128624 on colorectal cancer: screening, whether (a) the Clinical Reference Group has submitted the Preliminary Policy Proposal and (b) that policy has been reviewed by the Clinical Panel; and whether any further steps in the clinical build phase have been completed to assess Lynch syndrome testing.

Steve Brine: In line with NHS England’s methods of development and approval of national clinical policies for directly commissioned specialised services, the Medical Genetics Clinical Reference Group has reviewed Lynch syndrome testing. As part of the review process, it was identified that the commissioning of services for people diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, does not sit solely with NHS England but also with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). NHS England will be working with CCG pathology service commissioners to determine whether they can jointly develop a policy position relating to genetic testing and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on testing for Lynch syndrome. NHS England will be considering this issue as part of the relevant work programmes during 2018/19.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2018 to Question 147340, when the last occasion was before January 2018 when assurance was given to Ministers on the work undertaken by NHS England and Public Health England in delivering effective screening programmes; and what information was given to Minsters on the effectiveness of the breast screening programme.

Steve Brine: Ministers are assured on the work of NHS England and Public Health England in delivering effective screening programmes through quarterly accountability meetings, chaired by senior officials. Separate meetings review and assure progress in delivery of Public Health England’s remit letter and business plan, and of the NHS Public Health Functions Agreement with NHS England. Ministers are informed of the details of the statistical report on the Breast Screening Programme, England, every year, which NHS Digital publishes. Prior to January 2018 the last report was published in February 2017 for 2015/16, which is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/breast-screening-programme/breast-screening-programme-england-2015-16 The subsequent report for 2016/17 was published in January 2018 and is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/breast-screening-programme/breast-screening-programme-england---2016-17

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much financial assistance her Department has allocated to (a) Gaza and the (b) Palestinian territories in 2018.

Alistair Burt: The financial allocation for each financial year is subject to change throughout the year, and the final expenditure in 2018/19 will be published in the 2018 Annual Report, which is expected to be published by July 2019. This is not disaggregated by Gaza and the West Bank. The UK supports stability and vulnerable Palestinian refugees through our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA respectively. We are closely monitoring the situation in Gaza and the UK is supporting water and sanitation needs through £1.9 million support to UNICEF and £1.5 million to ICRC helping support patients in 11 hospitals in Gaza.

Department for Education

Teachers: Recruitment

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there has been an under-spend in the budget for teacher bursaries in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



The table shows the budget and the actual spend for training bursaries in each of the last three complete financial years along with the value of any underspend. These figures take account of the income generated by recovery of unused funding in respect of trainees who withdrew or deferred from training each year as identified through routine assurance processes. The financial year 2017-18 figure consists in part of financial information relating to the 2017/18 academic year, which is yet to conclude, and is subject to further routine assurance before being finalised.Financial yearTotal amount spent on bursariesTotal budgetUnderspend2015-16£163,730,014£161,544,000(£2,186,014)2016-17£184,166,893£188,755,000£4,588,1072017-18£183,327,995£224,094,000£40,766,005

Social Mobility

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to implement the recommendations in the report, Social mobility in Great Britain: fifth state of the nation report published by the Social Mobility Commission in November 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: We welcome the Social Mobility Commission’s report, which underlines the importance of removing barriers to opportunity across the whole country. Social mobility is a top priority for this government and my department - we are therefore already taking action to overcome the challenges identified in the Commission’s report. The report highlights the postcode lottery of social mobility and in particular the existence of cold spots of opportunity in some costal and rural areas. To tackle this, our Opportunity Areas programme is investing £72 million to make progress on educational outcomes in 12 of the most challenging places. The choice of these 12 areas was informed, in part, by the Commission’s own Social Mobility Index. The report also focuses on the importance of ensuring excellent early education opportunities are available everywhere. To achieve this, we are investing an additional £1 billion per year by 2019-20 to deliver 30 hours of free childcare along with 15 hours of free early education for disadvantaged two year-olds. We have also recently announced £8.5 million to support local authorities to fund projects to improve early language and literacy. In its report, the Commission also emphasises the importance of employer engagement with young people to boost social mobility by improving access to high-skill, high-pay jobs. To achieve this, the department’s careers strategy, published in December 2017, will ensure that schools offer every young person seven encounters with employers between years seven to 13.

Students: Fees and Charges

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to make an assessment of the value for money of degree courses at universities that charge the maximum fees.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 19 February, the government is conducting a major review across post-18 education and funding. The review will ensure that the system is giving every individual a genuine choice between high quality technical, vocational and academic routes, students and taxpayers are getting value for money, and employers can access the skilled workforce they need. Ensuring value for money for students, graduates and taxpayers is at the heart of the review. It will consider how students and graduates contribute to the cost of their studies, how we can ensure funding arrangements across post-18 education are transparent and do not act as barriers to choice or provision, and how best to promote institutional efficiency. The review is being supported by an independent panel, led by Philip Augar, and comprising experts from across post-18 education and the business world. The panel will publish their report at an interim stage, before the government concludes the overall review in early 2019.

Students: Fees and Charges

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of universities which charge the maximum fees for all of their courses.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not hold data on the level of fees that universities charge for their courses. To ensure that, students from all backgrounds are able to enter, succeed in and progress from higher education and, providers of higher education are able to deliver value for money for students, the department works closely with institutions and the newly created Office for Students (OfS). The OfS is a new public body that combines the regulatory functions of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) with many of the functions of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Prior to the responsibilities transferring to the OfS in April 2018, OFFA published a report on Access Agreements for 2018-19. The report indicates that 26 universities or colleges (13 per cent of those with access agreements) plan to charge £9,250 for all of their courses in the academic year 2018-19.

Overseas Students: India

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of students of Indian nationality who were studying at English higher education providers in each academic year since 2010-11.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes information on students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Information of higher education enrolments at English HEIs who were domiciled in India prior to their studies is provided in the table.  



155307_Higher_education_enrolments
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Grammar Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on allowing grammar schools to use the Condition Improvement Fund to fund their expansion, and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Fully and partially selective schools were not eligible to apply to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) in 2018-19 for added places expansion projects, but they were able to apply for condition projects or to address overcrowding. All applications to the CIF are reviewed and prioritised on published criteria based on the needs of the individual school building, regardless of whether they are a selective school or not.

Children: Health

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how his Department monitors compliance by English local authorities with requirements prescribed in section 1 of the Childcare Act 2006.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not monitor local authority compliance with section 1 of the Childcare Act 2006. We do continue to work closely with local authorities to improve outcomes for children, such as through the Partners in Practice programme, the special educational needs and disabilities reform programme, and our work to close the word gap announced in ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential: a plan to improve social mobility through education’.

GCSE

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of reforms to the GCSE grading system on pupil well-being; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The reformed GCSEs are a culmination of a programme of curriculum and qualification reforms since 2011, involving consultation with subject experts, higher education institutions and teachers. These qualifications will better prepare students for further study or employment and are in line with standards in other countries with high performing education systems.Exams are, by their very nature, stressful but this government has already taken steps to reduce the examination burden upon young people. At GCSE for example, exams are now linear with examinations only taking place at the end of the course of study, giving pupils at least two full years of study to better prepare before they sit external exams. We have also removed the incentives for multiple resits that were not helping children’s education.Schools are responsible for preparing all young people for examinations and should have strong pastoral support in place to help pupils deal with any worries they might have throughout the year.GCSE grading is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write directly to the right/hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to introduce measures to ensure the parity of special educational needs provision between the North and the South.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the mandatory introduction of a special educational needs school in each local authority to cater for young people who struggle in mainstream education.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to work with parents, young people, and providers to keep the provision for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities under review, including its sufficiency.There is a presumption in law that children and young people should be educated in mainstream settings unless the local authority concludes they require more specialist provision following a statutory Education, Health and Care assessment (EHC). In January 2018, 34.8% of children and young people with EHC plans were placed in maintained special schools.Local authorities are also able to commission new schools (both special and mainstream) via the free school presumption route, drawing on the basic need and special provision capital funding sources. The department has allocated £265 million of capital funding (over and above basic need funding) to help build new places at mainstream and special schools, and to improve existing places to benefit current and future pupils. We have given local authorities a more proactive role in commissioning new special free schools, and since March we have announced 15 projects which are being taken forward.

Academies: Risk Assessment

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150684 on Academies, if he will publish a list of each regional schools commissioners’ risk ratings of the multi academy trusts in their regions.

Nadhim Zahawi: Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take account of a variety of educational[1], financial and governance information when making assessments of multi-academy trusts (MATs) in their regions. These may include, for example, the published MAT performance measures. As outlined in the published RSC Decision Making Framework, RSCs assess MATs at key milestones throughout the academic year, such as following exam results. They also assess MATs at key stages of their growth to consider their capacity to support and enable the academies within their MAT to improve.[2]As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State announced in his speech at the National Governance Association on 9 June, we concluded that we need to have a transparent way of assessing the strength of individual trusts. We want to take time to get this right and will be engaging with the sector over the coming months before setting out proposals. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-academy-trust-performance-measures-2016-to-2017.[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577885/RSC_decision_making_framework_December_2016.pdf.

Academies: Inspections

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150684 on academies, how many schools Ofsted decided warranted an earlier inspection due to the inadequate rating of another school in the multi academy trust in the last twelve months.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Inspections

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of resources provided to local education authorities and Ofsted to monitor schools between Ofsted inspections and (b) the effectiveness of Ofsted boards of governors.

Nick Gibb: Schools that receive two or more successive overall Requires Improvement grades, and academies judged to require special measures which are not rebrokered to a new sponsor trust, normally receive a monitoring visit from Ofsted within 30 months following publication of the last Ofsted report. Ofsted also carries out risk assessments of schools which informs the timing of any inspection. This work is resourced from Ofsted’s overall financial settlement, agreed at Spending Review, and published in Ofsted’s Annual Report and Accounts. The Department, through Regional School Commissioners, is responsible for oversight of academies; local authorities are responsible for oversight of maintained schools. For local authorities, the Department introduced a £50 million per year brokering and monitoring grant in November 2016, for two years. This grant has been allocated to local authorities since September 2017 to allow them to continue to monitor the performance of maintained schools, broker school improvement provision and intervene as appropriate. Ofsted’s board reports directly to parliament, principally through Ofsted’s published annual performance report and Education Select Committee hearings. The effectiveness of the Chair is reviewed by the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education on behalf of the Secretary of State, taking account of a range of views. As set out in Ofsted’s Corporate Governance Framework, the Chair of the Ofsted Board is responsible for assessing the performance of individual board members.

Child Minding: Finance

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing registered childminders to receive Government funding for providing care to a child who is related to them but does not live with them.

Nadhim Zahawi: Childminders, including grandparents who are childminders, cannot receive early years funding, including the new 30 hours’ entitlement, for related children. This is set out in Sections 18(4) and 20 of the Childcare Act 2006: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/21/contents.This long-standing position avoids creating an incentive for adults to register to become formal carers for related children they are already looking after on an informal basis.

Department for Education: Staff

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in his Department; how many non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in his Department; and how many full-time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are employed in back office functions in his Department.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ofsted: Staff

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofsted; how many non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofsted; and how many full-time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofsted.

Anne Milton: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Ofqual: Staff

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofqual; how many non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofqual; and how many full-time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in Ofqual.

Anne Milton: This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked the Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Education and Skills Funding Agency: Staff

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in the Education and Skills Funding Agency; how many non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in the Education and Skills Funding Agency; and how many full-time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Standards and Testing Agency: Staff

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in the Standards and Testing Agency; how many non-payroll staff are employed in back-office functions in the Standards and Testing Agency; and how many full-time equivalent (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff are employed in back office function in the Standards and Testing Agency.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Education: Staff

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 152263 on Department for Education: Staff, what proportion of the 81.2 equivalent full time staff work on the 30 hours of funded childcare policy.

Nadhim Zahawi: As at 31 May 2018, there were 26 full time equivalent members of staff working on the 30 hours free childcare policy out of 81.2 full time equivalent staff working in the Department for Education’s Early Years Group. Other staff members in the department also contribute to early years policy, including the 30 hours free childcare policy, as part of their work.

LocatED: Staff

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll back-office functions in LocatED.

Anne Milton: This is a matter for LocatED. I have asked the Chief Executive, Lara Newman, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Children's Commissioner for England: Staff

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll back-office functions in the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.

Anne Milton: This is a matter for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. I have asked the Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

School Teachers' Review Body: Staff

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll back-office functions in the School Teachers’ Review Body.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Reform

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the courts reform programme which was launched in 2015 is on course to be completed by the end of 2021.

Lucy Frazer: To transform our Justice System as set out in the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice’s joint statement, an extensive programme of change activity is underway and on track to complete delivery by March 2022, and benefits will have been fully embedded by March 2023. Reform will utilise digital services to make justice more accessible and straightforward; simplify and modernise processes to avoid unnecessary hearings, redundant paper forms, and duplication; and make more effective use of courts and judiciary for difficult and sensitive issues while handling routine issues out of court wherever possible. HMCTS expects the reformed, modernised and upgraded justice system to work better for all those involved, use court time more proportionately, and make services more accessible to users.

Magistrates' Courts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the rate of utilisation was of each magistrates' court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested is shown in Annex A in relation to each HMCTS building which houses a magistrates’ court operation.



Table
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Terrorism: Convictions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the religious or ideological belief was of each person convicted of terrorist-related offences in each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: As a result of the Government’s unprecedented action to protect the public from extremists, we have seen a 75 per cent rise in terrorism-related prisoners over the last three years. That means we need to do more than ever before to confront and counter the threat, including the spread of all forms of poisonous ideology within prisons – and we are meeting that challenge. With thousands of prison staff now trained to deal with extremism, an enhanced intelligence capability and separation centres for the most subversive prisoners, we are well equipped to deal with this threat. In the last three years (May 2015 – May 2018), a total of 142 people have been convicted of terrorist-related offences in the UK. 38 were convicted from May 2015, 54 were convicted in 2016, 46 were convicted in 2017, and so far in 2018 4 have been convicted. Convictions in such cases are on the basis of the offence committed and not on the religion observed by the offender. Data concerning the religious or ideological beliefs of these offenders, if applicable, is set out in the tables below: 2015 ReligionTACT/TACT-Related Convicted IdeologyTACT/TACT-Related Convicted Church of England1Islamic Extremist38Muslim37  Total38Total 38 2016 ReligionTACT/TACT-Related Convicted IdeologyTACT/TACT-Related Convicted Jewish1Islamic Extremist50Muslim45Other2No Religion8Right Wing Extremist2Total54Total 54 2017 ReligionTACT/TACT-Related Convicted IdeologyTACT/TACT-Related Convicted Atheist1Domestic Extremist2Christian1Islamic Extremist40Church of England1Other2Methodist1Right Wing Extremist2Muslim31  No Religion10  Spiritualist1  Total46Total 46 2018 ReligionTACT/TACT-Related Convicted IdeologyTACT/TACT-Related Convicted Buddhist1Animal Rights Extremism1Christian1Islamic Extremist2Muslim2Right Wing Extremist1Total4Total 4

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) length and (b) value of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service cleaning and security contracts will be that are due to be awarded in 2019.

Lucy Frazer: Replacement Facilities Management (FM) contracts for HM Courts & Tribunals Service which will include cleaning and security services are due to be awarded in 2019 and will be:a) on the basis of a five-year contract, with provision to extend for up to a further four years; andb) the value of the contracts is not known as this will be subject to competitive tendering.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of providing HM Courts and Tribunal Service cleaning and security services in-House; whether trade union recognition will form part of the tendered contracts; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that employees are paid the living wage as recognised by the Living Wage Foundation.

Lucy Frazer: HM Courts & Tribunals Service has undertaken an assessment of the merits of providing services in-house but has determined that continued outsourcing of these services is the most efficient model and provides best value for the taxpayer. For all such contracts, trade union recognition is a requirement of service providers. Rates of pay for employees delivering outsourced services are determined by their respective employers. All employers must comply with statutory legislation and pay at least the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage.

Approved Premises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential risks associated with privatising waking night cover in approved premises.

Rory Stewart: The new arrangements for night cover will promote the health and safety of those who live and work in Approved Premises and of the community at large. Under previous arrangements in some Approved Premises, only one member of staff was required to be awake during the night hours. The new contracts require two staff to be on duty and awake during the night in all Approved Premises. This model has been in operation for many years in certain parts of the country and has provided an effective service. The new contracts make appropriate provision to protect the health and safety of staff, service users and members of the public. Services must be delivered in full compliance with statutory obligations and the Health & Safety Executive’s Approved Codes of Practice. Suppliers must be able to provide professional advice to their own staff, sub-contractors and the client where required. The National Probation Service is monitoring the contracts carefully. It is working with contractors to address issues that arise and to consolidate the processes to ensure effective delivery of night cover.

Prison Officers: Training

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers entered training in 2017.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many newly recruited prison officers in 2017 left employment with the prison service before the completion of their training.

Rory Stewart: Between January - December 2017, 4406 Prison Officers enrolled onto the Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) Course, of these 68 did not complete their training.

Ministry of Justice: Serco

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the terms of each contract his Department has entered into with Serco.

Rory Stewart: The following Serco Contracts have been published and can be located as follows: HMP Thameside - https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1750297/ HMP Doncaster - https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/242328/ HMP Lowdham Grange – https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1750371/ HMP Dovegate – https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1750349/ PECS London and the Southeast - https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/189285/  HMP Ashfield was not published when the other prison contracts were published due to the finalisation of the re-role of the prison from a Young Offenders Institute. Work is being done to redact the commercially sensitive information for this contract and it will be published in due course. The Facilities Lease with Sport England contract for the use of facilities at Clayton Hall and Lilleshall sports centre is a legacy contract that was let in 1991 and is not due to expire until 2041. It was let by the Home Office and we are working with them to progress this. It was let prior to there being a requirement to publish contracts on contract finder. It is a 60 year lease agreement.

Immigration: Appeals

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for an immigration tribunal appeal hearing.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time was for an immigration tribunal appeal hearing in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The average waiting time from the receipt of an appeal to the hearing in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) January 2018 to March 2018 was 37 weeks. The average waiting times from the receipt of an appeal to the hearing in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) from 2010 to 2017 were as follows: 2010 – 16 weeks2011 – 14 weeks2012 – 14 weeks2013 – 20 weeks2014 – 25 weeks2015 – 24 weeks2016 – 43 weeks2017 – 45 weeks Waiting times extended due to a higher level of receipts than forecast. In response HM Courts and Tribunals Service increased the number of judicial sittings to deal with incoming receipts and reduce the live caseload. This has seen the live caseload nearly halve from 64,800 to 36,300 between June 2016 and March 2018 and the average waiting time has now begun to improve from 45 weeks in 2017 to 37 weeks in the period January to March 2018. Further improvement will follow.

Crime: Victims

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to publish a victims strategy before the start of the Summer Recess.

Edward Argar: Supporting victims of crime is a priority for the Government and we have made a commitment to publish a Victims Strategy this Summer. We want to be sure that we get the Strategy right. That’s why, to make sure that it properly addresses the needs of victims, we have engaged widely with victims, victims’ groups and criminal justice agencies as we developed the Strategy, and continue to do so as we finalise it.

Prison Governors: Finance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much additional funding he plans to allocate to prison governors after April 2019 as a result of the procurement powers  conferred on governors in relation to education and employment.

Rory Stewart: The recent Education and Employment Strategy set out our vision for more partnerships between prisons and employers. The New Futures Network will provide a dedicated team to support governors in this, with experts placed in every geographical prison group in a phased roll-out across England and Wales. Under the new education commissioning arrangements, budgets will be delegated to governors rather than being held centrally as is currently the case. This will help enable governors to decide their prison’s curriculum, how it is organised and who delivers it. This will help prisons build effective partnerships with employers, delivering training that matches their requirements. Budgets for 2019-20 have not yet been agreed, so it is not possible to quantify how much the devolved education budgets will add to the funds already controlled locally by prison governors.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent from the public purse on legal aid for social security upper tribunal cases in cases where the claimant has been successful.

Lucy Frazer: Legal aid is potentially available (subject to tests as to the means of the individual and the merits of their case) in relation to an appeal on a point of law to the Upper Tribunal, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court relating to a benefit, allowance, payment, credit or pension. However, the specific information being requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Courts: Video Conferencing

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2018 to Question 136381 on Tribunals: Video Conferencing, when he plans to start pilots in other courts; and by what date those pilots will be completed.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2018 to Question 136381 on Tribunals: Video Conferencing, how much funding his Department has allocated to pilots of video hearing technology in courts and tribunals.

Lucy Frazer: We recognise the need to test fully video hearings in a range of locations and jurisdictions, and are working with the judiciary to identify suitable opportunities. Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is currently running a small-scale pilot in the Tax Chamber and has commissioned an independent evaluation of this pilot. The learning from this evaluation will inform our plans for further testing. Developing video hearings is one of the technology solutions which will support the HMCTS change portfolio, which includes the Reform programme. The costs of piloting fully video hearings cannot be determined until plans for further testing are in place, but will be met from the overall change portfolio budget of £1.2bn.

Prisoners: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer to Question 137612 on Prisoners: Females, how many of the 2,271 sentenced women in prison for non-violent crimes received sentences of (a) less than 1 month, (b) less than 3 months, (c) less than 6 months, (d) less than 12 months, and (e) 12 months or more.

Edward Argar: Pursuant to the answer to Question 137612, the number of women held in custody for non-violent crimes as at 31 March 2018, disaggregated according to sentence length is given below.Sentenced female prison population by sentence length, non-violent crimes31/03/2018 Less than 1 month12 1 month to less than 3 months110 3 months to less than 6 months177 6 months to less than 12 months170 12 months or more1536 Indeterminate sentence37 Recalls181 Sentence length not recorded48 Total2271Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for an appeal on decisions relating to (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment support allowance and (c) universal credit was at the Newcastle Social Security Tribunal in each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



Clearance times are dependent on several factors, such as the availability of the appellant or their representative, or hearing capacity at the local Tribunal venue. Additionally, a decision on the appeal may be reached after a hearing has been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after a hearing has been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been referred back to the First-tier Tribunal by the Upper Tribunal for disposal. Cases may also have been stayed at the First-tier Tribunal, pending a decision by the Upper Tribunal on a lead case.Latest figures indicate that since PIP was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these under 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. For ESA the figure is only 8% of decisions made were appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals. The information requested is set out in the table below:Average time in weeks from receipt at HM Courts & Tribunal Service to outcomeNewcastle Manor View House (Social Security & Child Support Tribunal hearing venue)Financial years April - MarchPersonal Independence Payment 1Employment and Support Allowance2Universal Credit32015-161517~2016-171515122017-18211913 Notes:1 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was introduced on 8 April 2013, and also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments)2 Includes Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Employment Support Allowance (Reassessments)3 Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and has been gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.~ Equates to a value of five or fewerAlthough care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data available.The data may differ slightly to that of the published stats as these data were run on a different date.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2018 to Question 147414 on procurement, how long each of those contractors has been employed by his Department at that daily rate.

Rory Stewart: The response to Question 147414 said that there were three contractors employed by the department and paid £1,000 or more per day. Two of those no longer work for the department with their contracts having ended in February and April 2018. The one current contractor has completed 10 months in the department and the contract terminates in September 2018. The Ministry of Justice brings in contractors for a variety of reasons. These include general skills for short term work on projects that do not require a long term permanent role, or where highly specialist skills are required only on a temporary basis. We seek to use contractors where to do so is more efficient and cost-effective, saving money for the taxpayer.

Sexual Offences: Internet

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of reclassifying the offence of posting explicit or sexual images online without permission as a sex offence; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The offence at Section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 2015 criminalises the disclosure of private sexual photographs or films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with the intent to cause that individual distress. Such behaviour is a terrible abuse of trust which can leave victims feeling humiliated and degraded. I am glad to see people are being prosecuted under this new offence which carries a maximum sentence of two years behind bars. At the time the offence was brought in it was deliberately designed to strengthen existing law by targeting the malicious non-consensual sharing of private sexual images, a motive more akin to the offence of blackmail. This decision was taken after consultation with victims who strongly supported the focus on the malicious nature of this behaviour.

Legal Aid Scheme: Immigration

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration law legal aid providers held a legal aid contract to provide such work in January 2018 by (a) procurement area and (b) access point.

Lucy Frazer: Procurement Area NameAccess Point NameNumber of OfficesLondon and South-East EnglandBuckinghamshire2London and South-East EnglandHampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth & Isle of Wight2London and South-East EnglandLondon111London and South-East EnglandMid, South West and Coastal Kent4London and South-East EnglandOxfordshire & Berkshire2London and South-East EnglandSurrey & Sussex1Midlands and East of EnglandBedfordshire & South Hertfordshire7Midlands and East of EnglandCambridgeshire & Northamptonshire1Midlands and East of EnglandCity of Leicester4Midlands and East of EnglandCity of Stoke-on-Trent1Midlands and East of EnglandCoventry5Midlands and East of EnglandGreater Nottingham, Derby & South Derbyshire3Midlands and East of EnglandSouth Staffordshire, Sandwell and Birmingham23North East, Yorkshire and the HumberCounty Durham East, Teesside, Tyne & Wear and Gateshead10North East, Yorkshire and the HumberSouth Yorkshire9North East, Yorkshire and the HumberWest Yorkshire20North West EnglandGreater Manchester17North West EnglandMerseyside6North West EnglandEast & West Lancashire0South West EnglandCity of Bristol, Gloucestershire and North Somerset7South West EnglandCity of Plymouth and Devon1WalesBridgend, Cardiff and South East Wales9WalesNeath Port Talbot and Swansea1WalesNorth East Wales0

Prison Officers: Crimes of Violence

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer work days have been lost to sickness as a result of an injury sustained in a workplace assault in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prison Officers: Crimes of Violence

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers required hospital treatment as a result of an assault at work in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: As set out in the answer to question 138496 on 8 May, this information was not recorded for incidents that occurred before April 2017. Between April and December 2017 prison officers attended hospital for treatment following 741 incidents of assault. Figures for 2018 will be available following the publication of the next annual tables on assaults, which is planned for April 2019. These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System, and while care is taken when processing and analysing returns, the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. We are taking urgent action to make prisons safer, and assaults on our hardworking staff will never be tolerated. We are ensuring that prison officers have the tools they need to do their jobs by rolling out body worn cameras, 'police-style' handcuffs and restraints, and trialling PAVA incapacitant spray.

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many self-inflicted deaths there were of former (a) women and (b) male prisoners in England in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: Data about deaths of offenders under probation supervision can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/deaths-of-offenders-in-the-community-annual-update-to-march-2017. The next set of figures, up to March 2018, is expected to be published in October. Not every offender released from custody is under probation supervision, so some deaths will not be shown in those figures. The statistical data about deaths that is available from other sources does not record whether or not the deceased had previously been imprisoned.

Insurance: Liability

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment on the implications for the public liability claims handling process of the non-disclosure by organisations of their public liability insurer.

Lucy Frazer: The Secretary of State has no any plans to carry out such an assessment. A prospective claimant may be able to obtain information about insurance cover held by a prospective defendant under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 if the defendant is insolvent or in other similar circumstances covered by that Act and under Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which permits the court to order the pre-action disclosure of documents in appropriate cases.

Courts: Sunderland

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter of 6 March 2018 from the Under-Secretary of State for Justice to the hon. Members for Houghton and Sunderland South and for Sunderland Central, what progress has been made on the future of the Sunderland court estate.

Lucy Frazer: HM Courts & Tribunals Service has completed the assessment and information gathering activities which were outlined in the letter I wrote to the Honourable Member on 6 March 2018. As stated in the letter, the HMCTS Property Board is now considering options for the court estate in Sunderland. I will write to the Honourable Member shortly to provide further information regarding the outcome of the Property Board deliberations.

Ministry of Justice: Capita

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2018 to Question 137623 on Ministry of Justice: agency workers, for what category of work the maximum rate of £221.06 was paid to Capita.

Rory Stewart: The maximum day rate relates to Senior Civil Servant (SCS) roles.

Ministry of Justice: Capita

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2018 to Question 137623 on Ministry of Justice: agency workers, how many hours of work was paid at the maximum rate of £221.06 per hour.

Rory Stewart: We can confirm that between the periods of 2016-2018 the MoJ hasn’t paid any interim/contractor the maximum daily rate from the contracted rate card. The Maximum daily rate relates to the role of Senior Civil Servant 3.

Ministry of Justice: Capita

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was paid to Capita under agency contracts by his Department in the last two financial years.

Rory Stewart: The amount paid to Capita under agency contracts in financial years 2016/17 and 2017/18 is £102,317,539.00 as set out in the department’s annual accounts.Staff used under this contract provide specialist skills or support for short term projects for roles where it would not be cost-effective to employ staff on a permanent basis. We are working towards reducing this spend but will continue to use such contracts to improve the delivery of our services and policy and where doing so works out better for the taxpayer.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Offenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been refused compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for having an unspent (a) custodial sentence of a year or more, (b) custodial sentence of less than a year and (b) non-custodial sentence as punishment for the unspent conviction in 2018.

Edward Argar: I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ152822 on Wednesday 20 June 2018.

Prison Officers: Recruitment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150720 on Prison Officers, what additional funding has been made available to prison governors to recruit prison officers in addition to those 3,111 prison officers.

Rory Stewart: Prison Governors are given responsibility for workforce planning within their establishments and for determining the number of staff at each grade. Individual prison budgets are agreed and allocated at the beginning of each financial year and include funding for all prison staff, including the recruitment of prison officers. The costs of recruitment of any additional officers are met from within the overall prison budgets.

Prisons: Standards

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 150725 on Prisons: Standards, how much additional money has been allocated to each of the prisons in special measures in each of the last four financial years.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, Pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 150725 on Prisons: Standards, how much additional money has been allocated to the prisons in special measures in each of the last four financial years.

Rory Stewart: Special measures means HM Prisons and Probation Service has determined a prison needs additional, specialist support to improve its performance. Any additional funding provided is drawn from a range of business as usual budgets. It is not possible to identify, from those budgets, a single figure showing how much has been used to help provide support to prisons in special measures.

Offenders: Supported Housing

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of (a) the availability and (b) the suitability of supported accommodation for female prisoners on release.

Edward Argar: We have interpreted “supported accommodation” as referring to Approved Premises, which provide residential accommodation in the community for female offenders who pose a medium risk of harm, as well as having complex resettlement needs. We are conducting a review into Approved Premises capacity for women, to ensure there is provision for women where it is needed. We are seeking to identify suitable provision for women in London and Wales, where we recognise that need is pressing.

Youth Custody

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the change in the number of commissioned beds in (a) secure children’s homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offender institutions since 2010.

Edward Argar: The change in the number of commissioned places in the three sectors of the under-18 estate is consistent with the sentencing practice of the courts and our policy of ensuring that young people are sent to custody only when there is no alternative. We will continue to ensure that enough places are available to ensure that the sentence of the court can be carried out.The number of children entering the youth justice system has declined year on year, but many of those in our care demonstrate very challenging and complex behaviour. To deal with these challenges we are increasing frontline staff numbers in public-sector Young Offender Institutions and already have more than 200 officers enrolled on a specialist youth custody foundation degree.

Prisoners: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transfers of prisoners to hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 there have been in each of the last three years; and what the average time was for such transfers to take place in each of those years.

Edward Argar: The total number of prisoners who have been transferred to hospital under sections 47 or 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last three years is set out below:  201520162017 Total1,010980936  The data are published annually on the gov.uk website under the Offender Management Statistics. The average time for such transfers to take place in each of those years has remained the same: 14 days. The time has been measured from the date at which the Ministry of Justice is provided with a complete application for a transfer warrant - indicating transfer is appropriate - to the actual date of admission to hospital. The Ministry of Justice has a target of 24 hours within which to provide a transfer warrant, once the assessments are complete and the two required medical reports and all other relevant information is received. This target is met in 95% of cases. This average time information is not published. The measure has been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. We take the mental health of prisoners extremely seriously, which is why we have increased the support available to vulnerable offenders - especially during the first 24 hours in custody - and invested more in mental health awareness training for prison officers. But we recognise that more can be done and continue to work in partnership with HMPPS, NHS England and Public Health England to improve mental health services for offenders at all points of the criminal justice system.

Treasury

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list what assessments his Department has conducted since the Government announced its extension of Childcare Vouchers that determine whether low-income families will benefit more from either Childcare Vouchers or Tax-Free Childcare.

Elizabeth Truss: Families’ access to vouchers is dependent on whether their employer offers vouchers. A low income family whose employer does not offer vouchers will receive Tax-Free Childcare and therefore be better off. For other families, the comparative level of support is not determined by income level. It is linked to a number of factors such as how many children they have, whether their employer offers vouchers, their childcare costs and the age of their children. Tax-Free Childcare is more generous for families with more childcare and higher childcare costs. However, employees currently on vouchers will be able to remain on them when the scheme closes.The government has introduced a range of measures to support parents on all incomes. For example, in addition to Tax-Free Childcare, the government has increased help with childcare costs through Universal Credit to 85% and introduced 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds. Parents can use the childcare calculator to understand which offer is best for them. The government is keeping Tax-Free Childcare under review and will continue to evaluate the effects. Additionally, we are conducting a programme of research and analysis which will help us evaluate the policy. This will be published once it is complete.

Child Benefit

Neil Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of progress on delivering the future of child benefit transformation project, and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Future of Child Benefit Programme will migrate current Child Benefit customer data from the existing DWP IT System across to a more modern, stable and flexible IT system within HMRC. The Programme is currently on track for delivery in late 2019.It will enable HMRC to maintain existing claims and payments, and process new claims for Child Benefit within the HMRC IT estate.

Children: Day Care

Neil Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of progress on delivering the tax-free childcare new front end project; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The childcare service is working well, following HMRC’s improvements. This is demonstrated by over 80% parent satisfaction with the service since the start of the year. As with all new digital services, HMRC are continuing to improve the customer journey in response to customer feedback.

Employee Ownership

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of employee share ownership schemes in (a) the UK and (b) other EU countries.

Mel Stride: The government does not collect data on share schemes of EU countries, so no comparative assessment has been made. The UK has four tax advantaged employee share ownership schemes. Statistics on the use of these schemes are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employee-share-schemes-statistics

Mental Health Services: Kingston upon Hull

Emma Hardy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the timetable for the Government releasing the funding for a new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services unit in Hull; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated for the purposes of delivering new homes in Coventry in each of the last eight years.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 19 June 2018



The Government funds affordable housing through the Affordable Homes programme. The information requested is not available for Coventry, as we do not publish funding details at a local level.The Affordable Homes programme as a whole received £4.5 billion of funding from 2011 - 2015, and a further £2.9 billion of funding from 2015 – 2018.The 2016 - 2022 Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes programme received £5.7 billion of funding which includes £1 billion of commitments from the 2015 - 2018 programme. There was also an additional £1.4 billion announced at Autumn Statement 2016 and then a further £2 billion announced on 4 October 2017, which brings the total funding for 2016 - 2022 to more than £9 billion.

Local Plans

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the National Planning Policy Framework will require local plans to include biodiversity protection.

Dominic Raab: This Government is committed to protecting our natural environment. We consulted on the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which included that plans should, amongst other things, identify and map components of local wildlife-rich habitats, including the hierarchy of designated sites of importance for biodiversity as well as to identify and pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gains for biodiversity. The consultation closed on 10 May 2018 and we are currently considering responses. The revised NPPF and the Government’s response will be published this summer and will ensure that the homes the country needs are built and the environment protected.

Housing: Bricks

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require Swift bricks to be incorporated into (a) new build properties and (b) restoration and renewal building projects.

Dominic Raab: The Government welcomes any action by individual developers who wish to provide nesting facilities for birds, such as Swift bricks, but has no plans to legislate on this matter.

Council Tax Reduction Schemes

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the review by Eric Ollerenshaw entitled Three Years On: An Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes, published in 2016, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their local council tax support schemes as by that review.

Rishi Sunak: The Government has not issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their council tax reduction schemes.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the homes developed on surplus public land which has been sold off as part of the Public Land for Housing Programme is social housing.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish regulations on local Tenancy Strategies in relation to the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Staff

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish his Department's monthly workforce management data for 2017–2018.

James Brokenshire: The Department publishes its workforce management transparency data on GOV.UK on a monthly basis. Data for each month in question during 2017-18 can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/workforce-management

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: EU Nationals

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-UK EU citizens are employed by the Armed Forces; and how many of those non-UK EU citizens are employed in the (a) STEM (b) hospitality field.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



All candidates for the UK Armed Forces must be British from birth, hold a dual British/other nationality, or be a British National, citizen of the Republic of Ireland (RoI) or a Commonwealth citizen. This means that non-UK EU citizens from Cyprus, Malta and the RoI are eligible to serve in the UK Regular Armed Forces. For some specialisations (e.g. Submarine service), candidates must hold British nationality only. In addition, all applicants must meet Home Office residency requirements (normally five years). The table below provides the requested information, noting that all non-UK EU Citizens in the UK Regular Armed Forces have a Foreign and Commonwealth nationality.Untrained and Trained Regular Non-UK EU Citizens in the UK Regular Armed Forces as at 1 April 2018All non-UK EU Citizens560Of which: STEM100Hospitality10Notes: STEM consists of Engineering Officers and Other Ranks for the Royal Navy/Marines and the Royal Air Force. For the Army, STEM includes Officers and Other Ranks in the Intelligence Corps, Royal Signals, Royal Engineers, Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, and Soldiers in selected trades in the Royal Logistics Corps. For the Royal Navy, the definition of ‘Hospitality’ here includes Caterers, Chefs and Stewards. For Royal Air Force, the definition includes Chefs only. Figures do not include Army personnel as Army chefs are not recorded in the hospitality field for statistical purposes. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, but when ending in a 5 rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systemic bias.

Armed Forces: Catering

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many chefs are employed by the Armed Forces; how many of those chefs are non-UK citizens; and how many of those non-UK citizen chefs are EU citizens.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



All candidates for the UK Armed Forces must be British from birth, hold a dual British/other nationality, or be a British National, citizen of the Republic of Ireland (RoI) or a Commonwealth citizen. This means that non-UK EU citizens from Cyprus, Malta and the RoI are eligible to serve in the UK Regular Armed Forces. For some specialisations (e.g. Submarine service), candidates must hold British nationality only. In addition, all applicants must meet Home Office residency requirements (normally five years). The table below provides the requested information, noting that all non-UK EU Citizens in the UK Regular Armed Forces have a Foreign and Commonwealth nationality.Untrained and Trained Chefs employed in the UK Regular Armed Forces as at 1 April 2018Chefs employed2,400   Of which, non-UK Citizens240Of which, non-UK EU Citizens10Notes: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, but when ending in a 5 rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systemic bias.

Military Exercises

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel will participate in the key NATO and allied exercises (a) Ramstein Alloy 18-2, (b) Dynamic, (c) Brilliant Jump, (d) Trident Junture 2018, (e) EADRCC Consequence Management Field Exercise SRBIJA 2018, (f) Anakonda, (g) Cyber Coalition and (h) NATO-EU Parallel and Coordinated Exercise (PACE 18).

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



UK Armed Forces are participating only in Trident Juncture. I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave him to Question 153213 on 18 June 2018.



153213 - NATO: Joint Exercises
(Word Document, 22.43 KB)

Type 45 Destroyers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential performance of Type 45 destroyers in different theatres of war.

Mark Lancaster: The Type 45 Destroyers have demonstrated their capability to support operations globally, particularly in the Gulf, Mediterranean and South Atlantic. They continue to make an enormous contribution to the defence of the UK and our international partners, including recent NATO taskings where their utility as a Command and Control platform is now well established.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems: Finance

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 14 June 2018, Official Report, column 1083, whether its planned for a UK equivalent to the Galileo system to be paid for out of funding for his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: The UK has made clear that we are unambiguously committed to European security. Having played a central role in the development of the Galileo Satellite programme, we want to continue our involvement. We strongly believe that there is a mutual benefit to the UK remaining involved in Galileo.As we have already stated, if we are denied the access we need we will look at other options, which will include further exploration of developing a UK global navigation satellite system. Value for money will be a key consideration as we move forward.

Defence Fire and Rescue Service

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Statement of 18 June 2018, on contingent liability, HCWS770, for what reasons his Department decided that a contingent liability should be given to Capita Business Services for working capital for the contract for the Defence Fire and Rescue Project.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Defence Fire and Rescue Project will deliver improvements in the safety of firefighter personnel through greater investment in improved firefighting technology, training and equipment whilst ensuring the Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to receive the global fire and rescue capability it needs.Whilst the MOD has indicated its intention to award the contract to Capita Business Services we remain in a legal standstill period; as such it has not yet formally awarded a contract. The Contingent Liability provision reflects the financing structure of the anticipated contractual arrangements with Capita, enabling the early injection of capital into the contract. The contingent liability would only be activated in the event that the contract were terminated early.

United Kingdom Security Vetting

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what requirement the UK Security Vetting Agency has to hand over vetting material to the police; how many such applications have been received by that agency; and how many such applications have been complied with by that agency in the last two years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) has an obligation to act in accordance with Data Protection legislation.UKSV was created on 1 January 2017, since this date there have been five applications for data to be shared with police authorities, all requests have been responded to in accordance with Data Protection Legislation.

Yemen: Military Aid

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has offered British assistance in de-mining Hodeidah port in Yemen and surrounding waters.

Mark Lancaster: It is essential that the port of al-Hudaydah remains open to commercial and humanitarian shipping. The UK is liaising with international partners to determine the best way to ensure this happens. If de-mining is required the UK has relevant expertise and capabilities that could be brought to bear to facilitate access of humanitarian and commercial shipping.

British Overseas Territories: Seas and Oceans

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what advanced satellite monitoring and drone technologies his Department has made available to support implementation of the Blue Belt policy around the (a) Ascension Islands and (b) British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Lancaster: There are currently no funded programmes relating to satellite monitoring or drone technologies that support the implementation of Blue Belt policy around the Ascension Islands and British Indian Ocean Territory.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Pay

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that employees of her Department are paid their agreed pay increase in July 2018.

Kit Malthouse: I can confirm that as a result of multilateral discussions, the DWP Permanent Secretary - Peter Schofield, announced on 14 June that contractual Employee Deal salary uplifts would be paid on time for the majority of colleagues within DWP. Payments of consolidated pay increases will be made in July salaries for the AA, AO, EO and HEO grades. Unfortunately, without the Civil Service pay guidance, we cannot move forward on non-consolidated end-of-year payments nor can we proceed on consolidated pay awards for SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6 colleagues. We are continuing to press for the pay guidance to be published as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions - Rt Hon Esther McVey MP has also taken part in a number of discussions with counterparts responsible for Her Majesty’s Treasury and Cabinet Office to convey the urgency of the situation. We have been working closely with trade unions and will continue to do so to ensure that all payments are made as soon as possible.

Children: Maintenance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the service provided by the Child Maintenance Service telephone line.

Kit Malthouse: Performance of the telephony service is regularly reviewed. Information regarding the proportion of calls answered and within a set timescale is published as part of the CMS experimental publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme#latest-release

Work Capability Assessment

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the findings of the investigation into Keith Morgan’s Work Capability Assessment in 2012 where he was allegedly offered gay cure therapy by his disability benefits assessor.

Sarah Newton: The Department took this complaint seriously and ensured that Atos Healthcare carried out a full investigation, in accordance with their serious complaints procedure. It is not appropriate to make public results of investigations into individual complaints. Mr Morgan was provided with a full response following this investigation.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that young cancer patients who are claiming personal independence payments can access financial support backdated to the date of diagnosis following the completion of the three-month qualifying period.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 June 2018 to Question UIN 148701.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect of stopping personal independence payments for young people with cancer who are hospital in-patients for more than 28 days.

Sarah Newton: Young adults admitted to hospital prior to their 18th birthday can continue to receive payment of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) until discharge. Where someone aged 18 or over is maintained free of charge while undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution funded by the NHS, payment of (but not entitlement to) PIP ceases after 28 days. This is on the basis that the NHS is responsible for the entirety of the person’s disability-related extra costs and to pay PIP in addition would be a duplication of public funds intended for the same purpose. Once someone is discharged from hospital, payment of PIP recommences from the date of discharge.

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of PIP claimants with multiple sclerosis who have had their claims (a) accepted, and (b) rejected since the introduction of PIP.

Sarah Newton: As of April 2018, 35,490 claims have been awarded PIP whose main disabling condition was recorded as ‘multiple sclerosis’, whilst 7,080 claims have been disallowed post referral to the Assessment Provider. These figures are based on the initial DWP decision only. Notes: This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.Data is based on main disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.Claimants’ main disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. It is not recorded at the point of application. The figures therefore are only for those who have had a disability assessment determination decision.Figures are based on initial DWP decision only.Data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.Data taken from the PIP computer system’s management information.Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.Figures are for Great Britain only.

Department for Work and Pensions: Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many data breaches her Department has reported to the Information Commissioner's Office since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Kit Malthouse: DWP has not reported any data breaches to the Information Commissioner since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Universal Credit

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Rolling out universal credit, published on 15 June 2018, whether the Government has any plans to review the operation of the system of universal credit to address the findings detailed in that report.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I provided to Question 154701 on 21 June 2018.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to collect information on the number of people (a) failing and (b) ceasing to claim universal credit as a result of the complexity of the process.

Alok Sharma: We do not plan to collect this information. However, the latest Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey published on 8 June 2018, found that the majority of claimants found the claim process either very or fairly easy.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the three-month delay before receiving support on the financial security of young people with cancer applying for personal independence payments, and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 May 2018 to Question UIN 144155.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 150695 on Personal Independence Payment, where that information is collated.

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 150695 on Personal Independence Payment, what information her Department holds on the number of personal independence payment assessment reports that (a) have included consideration of informal observations and (b) used informal observations to come to a decision in each year for which information is available.

Sarah Newton: Information on informal observations and their use in reaching a decision is not collected centrally. To establish an estimate would require a manual examination of each individual assessment report form and decision.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional (a) resources and (b) funding her Department has been allocated to process back-dated claims for personal independence payments.

Sarah Newton: As outlined in the Written Statements of 19th January 2018 (HCWS414) and 15th June 2018 (HCWS767), my Department will be carrying out administrative exercises to identify anyone who may be entitled to more as a result of the judgments. The administrative cost will depend on a number of factors, including the number of cases identified.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 15 June 2018 on Personal Independence Payments HCWS767, if she will publish the terms of reference for the review.

Sarah Newton: As outlined in the Written Statement of 15th June 2018 (HCWS767), the department will be conducting an administrative exercise to identify claimants who may be affected by the Upper Tribunal judgment in LB. My Department are now working at pace and taking all steps necessary for this administrative exercise to take place later in the year. This administrative exercise to identify claimants who may be affected by the judgment will include all those who were in receipt of PIP or received a PIP decision during the period between the date of the LB judgment (28 November 2016) and the date of the March 2017 amendments (16 March 2017). It will include claimants currently assessed as needing support to manage medication or monitor a health condition.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who will receive a back-payment for personal independence payment.

Sarah Newton: The estimated number of claimants affected by the Personal Independence Payment Upper Tribunal judgments LB and RJ can be found in the following Written Statements, published on 15th June 2018 (HCWS767) and 2nd November 2017 (HCWS218). For the Upper Tribunal judgment in MH, the estimated number of affected claimants can be found in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March 2018, p.136 http://cdn.obr.uk/EFO-MaRch_2018.pdf.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals against personal independence payment decisions of the First-tier tribunal were brought by her Department in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2017-18; and how many of those appeals in each of those years were found in favour of her Department.

Sarah Newton: The available information is in the following table: Calendar YearNumber of Completed Appeals PursuedNumber Found in Department’s Favour20149620154339201613612020175144201877 There are 57 Personal Independence Payment appeals taken by the Department where we are awaiting an outcome.

Unemployment: Young People

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce youth unemployment in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands.

Alok Sharma: Youth unemployment in the UK is at a near record low; 5 per cent of young people aged 16-24 are unemployed and not in full time education. Data from the Office for National Statistics (from the Annual Population Survey) shows that in the year to December 2017 youth unemployment in the West Midlands was 59,300 – down by over 24,000 since 2010 (the year to December 2010). The claimant count for 18-24 year olds in Coventry has also has fallen, by 70 per cent, since 2010 (ONS labour market data). The Government remains committed to providing targeted support for young people so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. That is why we offer a range of support to young people to help them prepare for and move into work or an apprenticeship. In April 2017, we introduced the Youth Obligation Support Programme for young jobseekers, aged 18-21. This programme helps claimants become effective jobseekers from the start of their claim, provides tailored support and access to work-related training, including the offer of a guaranteed work experience placement if they are still unemployed after 6 months. The Programme is being introduced alongside the roll-out of the Universal Credit full service, so is already available in parts of the West Midlands and will be from July 2018 in Coventry. Young people receive intensive work-focused coaching, from Jobcentre Plus work coaches, and referral to specialist support tailored to their individual needs, drawn from a wide menu of available provision within their local area. This includes skills training, work experience, sector-based work academies, traineeships and other support funded by local authorities, charities and other providers.

Children: Maintenance

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service (CMS) case enquiries each regional CMS office has dealt with during the last twelve months.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service enquiries have been processed in each month of the last twelve months.

Kit Malthouse: We have interpreted CMS enquiries as CMS calls for these PQ’s. We do not publish call data however we have been able to obtain an overall internal figure for the year end 17/18 and can confirm we received 2,273,130 calls.

Children: Maintenance

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, if she will increase resources at the Child Maintenance Service to improve response times to enquiries.

Kit Malthouse: The numbers of people working within the Child Maintenance Service is reviewed regularly to ensure we have sufficient resources to answer customer calls and progress cases. So far in 2018, we have recruited 210 people into the Child Maintenance Service, with these people joining us between February 2018 and June 2018, and we are currently undertaking recruitment for a further 300 people to join the Child Maintenance Service during July and August. We will continue to review the volumes of work against our forecasting model to ensure that we adjust staffing levels as required.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will look into the feasibility of backdating personal independence payments for young cancer patients following the three-month qualifying period.

Sarah Newton: Primary legislation sets out that a claimant cannot be entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for any period prior to the date of claim and payment can only commence once the three month qualifying period has been satisfied, other than for claimants who are terminally ill. Claims to PIP can be taken during the three month qualifying period meaning that some or all of the three month period may have been met prior to a claim being made.

Disability Living Allowance: Cancer

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect the three-month qualifying period for disability living allowance on families of children with cancer.

Sarah Newton: Other than for those who are terminally ill, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability rather than a diagnosis. The three month qualifying period is one of the tests that determines whether an individual meets that definition. Claims to PIP can be taken during the three month qualifying period meaning that some or all of the three month period may have been met prior to a claim being made DLA claimants who are terminally ill do not have to satisfy the three month qualifying period, have their claim fast tracked and are eligible for the higher rate care component from the date of claim. Financial and practical support may be available during the qualifying period, for example through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme or support provided by a Local Authority.

Universal Credit: Blackburn

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints her Department has received in relation to universal credit from people in Blackburn.

Alok Sharma: Since 1 July 2017, 48 complaints concerning Universal Credit have been received from people in Blackburn. Notes: This data is from DWP internal management information which does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice. It relates to Tier 1 and Tier 2 complaints for both live and full service Universal Credit claims. Universal Credit Full Service rolled out in Blackburn on 14 February 2018. Blackburn Jobcentre currently has 2,808 Universal Credit Full Service claimants.

Personal Independence Payment: Blackburn

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints her Department has received on the personal independence process from people in Blackburn.

Sarah Newton: The DWP complaints system does not collect information at this level of detail. The only way to obtain specific complaints information about Personal Independence Payment (PIP) process from people in Blackburn, would be to investigate each PIP complaint on a case by case basis. This could only be retrieved at disproportionate cost to the Department.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value is of outstanding benefit (a) overpayments and (b) fraud debts owed by claimants in Scotland that are due to be recovered by her Department.

Kit Malthouse: Current data shows that the total value of outstanding benefit overpayments for claimants living in Scotland is £278m. Of this total, £41m is for debts classified as fraud.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Treasury's response to the Treasury Committee's Ninth Report of Session 2017-19 on Childcare, if she will publish the internal analysis on families reaching the Universal Credit childcare costs support cap.

Alok Sharma: There are no plans to publish this analysis.

Personal Independence Payment

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has identified errors in its calculation of personal independence payments in the last three months.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure the accuracy of the calculation of personal independence payment entitlements.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure the accuracy of the calculation of benefit entitlements that are consequential on personal independence payment entitlements.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures are in place to review the calculation of benefit entitlements that are consequential on personal independence payment entitlement.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has identified errors in the calculation of benefits entitlement consequential on personal independence payment entitlement in the last three months.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent changes her Department has made to the calculation of benefits entitlement that are consequential to personal independence payment entitlement.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken a review of the calculation of benefits entitlement consequential on personal independence payment entitlement.

Sarah Newton: The Department takes our responsibility for the prevention of error very seriously. We understand that the need to make sure payments are correct as incorrect payments will have implications for benefit claimants.We ensure the accuracy and quality of payments through internal assurance processes. This enables the Department to identify and correct error and to focus on those points in the customer journey where there is a risk of error occurring.When a benefit is reviewed the consequential impacts on other benefits are also reviewed.

Personal Independence Payment

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the calculation of personal independence payment entitlements.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment is discussed regularly across Government, including the calculation of entitlement.

Personal Independence Payment

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures her Department has in place regularly to review the calculation of personal independence payment entitlement.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reviews of a claimant’s award are triggered a year before the award is due to expire where the award is on the basis of a fixed term award with a review date. Awards which are made for an ongoing period will be subject to light touch review at the 10 year point. A claimant’s award may be reviewed following a change of circumstances reported to the Department. Reviews may result in awards going up, staying the same, reducing or ceasing altogether. The government announced on 18th June 2018 that we are developing new guidance, due to come into effect this summer, which will ensure people who are awarded the highest level of support under PIP – and where their needs are expected to stay the same or increase – will receive an ongoing award of PIP.

Personal Independence Payment

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent changes her Department has made to the the calculation of personal independence entitlement.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken a recent review of the calculation of personal independence payment entitlement.

Sarah Newton: The calculation of the rates of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is subject to the Secretary of State’s duty to determine annually whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. The most recent review was concluded in 2017 in advance of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2018 (SI 2018/281) being approved by both Houses earlier this year. The Order came in to force on 9 April 2018 in relation to the up-rating of PIP. The rates of PIP for 2018/19 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/pip/what-youll-get.

Maternity Pay

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to ensure that women are informed of their entitlement to statutory maternity pay at the higher level when they are preparing to go on maternity leave and are on maternity leave.

Kit Malthouse: Full and clear information about Statutory Maternity Pay is publically available on the GOV.UK website, including the way it is calculated, the levels at which it is payable, and the eligibility criteria. There is also information about maternity leave and a guide to how both operate together.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dairy Farming: Regulation

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his timetable is for (a) consulting on and (b) bringing forward changes to the regulation of the dairy industry; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of regulatory change on (i) dairy contracts and (ii) other areas of the dairy sector.

George Eustice: The Government is committed to improving supply chain fairness and in February this year announced a package of measures to help farmers and growers in the food supply chain. This included a commitment to consult on mandatory written contracts in the dairy sector, which we intend to launch shortly. The responses from this consultation will be used to inform future policy developments, including the consideration of any impacts on the dairy sector resulting from regulatory change.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the risks to the farming industry of the proposed withdrawal of land-based engineering level 2 service engineer from the Government's approved list of apprenticeships.

George Eustice: As part of the Government’s apprenticeship reforms, the Level 2 Land-Based Service Engineer apprenticeship framework is being replaced by a new Level 2 Land-Based Service Engineer apprenticeship standard. The new standard was approved for delivery by the Institute of Apprenticeships in February 2018 and is now available for use by the farming industry. Information about the standard can be found via the Institute for Apprenticeships’ website: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/land-based-service-engineer/ As announced in January 2018, existing apprenticeship frameworks will remain available until 2020, when all apprenticeship frameworks will be superseded by apprenticeship standards.

Disease Control

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures he is taking to prevent (a) African Horse sickness and (b) West Nile Disease from entering the UK; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: African horse sickness (AHS) and West Nile virus (WNV) are both notifiable in the UK. Defra has well established processes for the prevention, early identification and control of exotic notifiable diseases such as AHS and WNV.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many single farm payments with a value of (a) £500,000-£1,000,000 and (b) over £1,000,000 were delivered via the Common Agricultural Policy in each of the last ten years in each (i) constituent part and (ii) region of the UK.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency make payments under CAP within England. Payments to those who claim in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations. A list of UK CAP beneficiaries in the last two years is available on the Defra website.The data below is for the last full ten scheme years and provides the totals for England, and by NUTS region. Constituency level data can be found on the attached document. Table 1. Total number of claims >£500k for EnglandYear(a) £500k-£1m(b) >£1m2016281120152432014295201335720123362011331120103192009351020081882007136 Table 2. Payments by region (NUTS)NUTS RegionsYear2016201520142013201220112010200920082007East Midlands£500k-£1m2446665623>£1m4222122221East of England£500k-£1131112141412121495>£1m3012253422London£500k-£1m0121111001>£1m1001111110North East England£500k-£1m1111100110>£1m1000011111North West England£500k-£1m0000011111>£1m0000000000South East England£500k-£1m3012132211>£1m0001000000South West England£500k-£1m4345544410>£1m1111111111West Midlands£500k-£1m1123333310>£1m1000000000Yorkshire & Humber£500k-£1m4333233422>£1m0011111111 



Large Payments
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.45 KB)

Dogs: Imports

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs entered the UK in 2017.

George Eustice: The total number of dogs entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme in 2017 was 287,016, and the total number of dogs entering for commercial reasons was 39,998 The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) do not hold data regarding dogs moving to Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Livestock: Exports

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to ban the export of livestock for fattening; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government has always been clear that it would prefer animals to be slaughtered close to the point of production. Our manifesto made it clear that we would take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter, once we leave the European Union (EU). We recently launched a call for evidence on the control of live animal exports for slaughter and on improving animal welfare during transport for all purposes including fattening after the UK leaves the EU. The call for evidence closed on the 22 May 2018 and we are currently analysing the responses. The Government has also asked the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) to look at what improvements could be made to the transport regulatory regime for all animals and for all purposes, we hope to receive the recommendations from the FAWC later in the year.

Livestock: Transport

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that the proposed ban on live animal exports will prevent live exports for the purpose of fattening.

George Eustice: The Government has always been clear that it would prefer animals to be slaughtered close to the point of production. Our manifesto made it clear that we would take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter, once we leave the European Union (EU). We recently launched a call for evidence on the control of live animal exports for slaughter and on improving animal welfare during transport for all purposes including fattening after the UK leaves the EU. The call for evidence closed on 22 May 2018 and we are currently analysing the responses. The Government has also asked the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) to look at what improvements could be made to the transport regulatory regime for all animals and for all purposes, we hope to receive the recommendations from the FAWC later in the year.

Farmers: Income

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the average income per farm in (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) the UK.

George Eustice: Defra produces annual estimates of Farm Business Incomes in England with corresponding figures produced by the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. Farm Business Incomes represent the financial return to all unpaid labour on their capital invested in the farm business, including land and buildings and in essence is the same as Net Profit. Farm Business Incomes compare the financial position and physical and economic performance of commercial farm businesses.Average income per farm by country and farm type in 2016/2017 (a) £ per farm March/February year EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUnited KingdomAll farms (incl horticulture)38,00024,50026,50022,00033,000by type: Cereals43,000..20,50016,50041,000General cropping70,000..47,00027,50065,000Dairy50,00031,50034,50023,50040,000Grazing livestock (lowland)16,00022,50018,50016,50017,000Grazing livestock (LFA)27,00023,00023,50021,50024,000Specialist pigs58,000....58,50058,000Specialist poultry54,000......54,000Mixed29,000..24,00027,50028,000. . means 'not available' or 'not applicable'.(a) Figures rounded to nearest £500Source: Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2017

Agriculture: Finance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the (a) design and (b) implementation of agricultural funding after 2022.

George Eustice: The UK Government has committed to protect the amount we allocate to farm support, in cash terms, until the end of this Parliament. We have also committed to introduce a new environmental land management scheme thereafter and, in England, we have already started detailed work on the design of that future scheme. Outside of the Common Agricultural Policy we can have an agriculture and land management policy that works for the whole of the United Kingdom and we intend to give as much flexibility as possible for each devolved administration to design policies tailored to their own needs. We are working closely with the Devolved Administrations on the design of future UK frameworks.

Carbon Dioxide: Shortages

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the shortage of CO2 on (a) producers, (b) retailers, (c) customers and (d) consumers.

George Eustice: The Government is working with the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group and additional food supply chain stakeholders to understand the impacts of the carbon dioxide shortage across the food supply chain.

Carbon Dioxide: Shortages

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has received from the British Poultry Council on the shortage of CO2.

George Eustice: Government is aware of the CO2 shortage and industry is working to find a solution. Whilst this is an issue for industry, government will remain in contact with relevant companies and trade associations, including the British Poultry Council. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Policy

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the main policy priority is for his Department for 2018; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra published an updated Single Departmental Plan on 23 May 2018. This set out the department’s main policy objectives and how it will achieve them. Single Departmental Plans are revised annually to reflect new priorities or changes in responsibilities.

Agriculture: Environment Protection

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) range of public goods and (b) type of environmental outcomes his Department plans to provide funding to upland farmers under the proposed environment land management scheme.

George Eustice: The new environmental land management scheme, underpinned by natural capital principles, will contribute to delivering against many of the key outcomes set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the Clean Growth Strategy. These include clean air; clean and plentiful water; thriving plants and wildlife; reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards such as flooding and drought; using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently; enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement for the natural environment and mitigating and adapting to climate change. The uplands deliver many public goods that are worthy of public investment: not only are they a beautiful and rich part of our heritage, they can encourage biodiversity, protect water quality and store carbon. They are therefore well placed to benefit from the new environmental land management scheme.

Home Office

Commission for Countering Extremism

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January to Question 122052 on Radicalism, what the timescale is for the appointment of Commissioners to the Commission for Countering Extremism; and how many appointments he plans to make.

Victoria Atkins: The Government confirmed via a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 March (HLWS527) that at the end of its first year the Commission will advise the Government on the appointment of any further independent commissioners, as well as the Commission’s future structure and work programme.

Hate Crime: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May to Question 145549 on racially aggravated offences: Lancashire, what guidance has been (a) updated and (b) implemented into police policy since publication of the Hate Crime Action Plan; and what effect that plan has had on the number of incidents of hate crime reported in Lancashire.

Victoria Atkins: The College of Policing issued operational guidance on hate crime in 2014 to support police forces in England and Wales. The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s national lead for hate crime supports police forces to implement the guidance.It is for the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable for Lancashire Constabulary to assess the effectiveness of the police response to hate crime in Lancashire.

Immigration: Departmental Records

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the destruction of records relating to indefinite leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not organise its files on the basis of the type of application made, so it is not possible to provide information about destruction of files containing indefinite leave to remain applications.

Undocumented Migrants

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people living illegally in the UK in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Any estimate of the exact size of the illegal population is extremely difficult and there would be considerable uncertainty around it.Exit checks were introduced in April 2015 and are, over time, providing more detailed insights into the behaviour of migrants and how they comply with the restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK. Instead of producing inaccurate numbers, the Government is focused on making it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.

Cannabis

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) cautioned for cannabis possession offences in each police authority area in each of the last three years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Information on prosecutions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Asylum: Housing

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many households had to move National Asylum Support Service accommodation whilst waiting for their asylum claims to be processed in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not publish this information centrally and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual records.The Home Office is committed to providing safe, secure and suitable accommodation for eligible asylum seekers while cases are considered. Such accommodation is usually provided on a ‘no-choice’ basis, however in accordance with our published policy, the Home Office carefully considers all requests from asylum seekers who may have particular vulnerabilities, care needs or health problems that necessitate a need for a specific location or specialist accommodation requirements.All our Accommodation Providers are contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate, including those who have health care issues. This includes making specific allowances for accommodation type in accordance with local authority regulations. Further details regarding this policy can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-accommodation-requests-policyThe nature of asylum accommodation is such that in some circumstances it may be necessary to move Service Users, if for example the property in which they are residing requires maintenance or emergency repairs which cannot be affected whilst the property is occupied. In such cases we would aim to provide the Service User with at least seven days notice, unless the property required emergency repairs and to leave the Service Users in the accommodation would not be safe.

Asylum: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Aspen cards issued to asylum seekers have failed to work since their introduction in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The functionality of the Aspen card was thoroughly tested prior to its rollout in May 2017 however the Home Office is aware that a minority of service users have experienced delays in the processing of their applications and payments. We continue to work closely with our IT and commercial partners and other stakeholders to ensure that any issues raised in respect of Aspen cards are resolved and no service users are left destitute.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients: Police Custody

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people detained under section 13 of the Mental Health Act 1983 were held in police cells in (a) the Merseyside police force area and (b) England in each of the last two years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of persons detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, broken down by Police Force Area.These data were collected by the Home Office on a mandatory basis for the first time in 2016/17, and are published as part of the ‘Police powers and procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2017Table MHA.05c of the accompanying data tables show that, in 2016/17, nobody was detained in a police station following a section 136 detention in the Merseyside Police Force Area. In England, 898 people in total were detained in a police station following a section 136 detention.Figures for 2015/16 were collected and published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and can be accessed using the following links:http://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/S136%20Data%202015%2016.pdf.

Immigration

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons there are differences in the length of time that it takes to process indefinite leave to remain applications and applications for other forms of leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain and other forms of leave to remain are subject to a maximum waiting time, the specific time for each route is published on gov.uk. The exact time taken to decide an individual case will depend on the specific circumstances of that case.

Asylum: Detainees

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to grant discretionary leave to remain in the UK to asylum seekers who have waited a year or longer at immigration detention centres .

Caroline Nokes: Almost all asylum claims are processed in the community. Those who have their claim processed in detention are those who claim only after having been detained for removal, or who are detained for public protection reasons. We may also detain failed asylum seekers for removal if they refuse to leave the UK voluntarily.In all cases, the appropriateness of detention is considered through regular reviews and whenever there is new evidence about removability or vulnerability. Detention is kept to the shortest period necessary. It may be maintained only whilst there is a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable period of time.There are no plans to review the Discretionary Leave policy.

Islamic State: Syria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is the Government taking to (a) prepare for the potential return to and (b) manage the potential threat in the UK of people who were radicalised in this country, fought with Daesh in Syria, have been held captive by the Syrian Democratic Forces and may now be handed back to Daesh where they will continue to face radicalisation and violence.

Mr Ben Wallace: Many of the most dangerous individuals who left Britain to engage in the conflict in Syria and Iraq remain overseas. Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.Where there is evidence that crimes have been committed, those responsible should expect to be prosecuted. However any decision on whether to prosecute will be taken by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on a case by case basis. In addition to seeking prosecution of terrorism suspects we use a range of tools to manage the threat posed by returners - including imposing travel restrictions for individuals subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures and using Temporary Exclusion Orders to place in-country conditions upon return, including regular reporting to a police station.

Crimes of Violence: Children

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statistical analysis his Department holds on the level of involvement in incidents of serious violence amongst (a) excluded schoolchildren, (b) children in care, (c) homeless children and (d) people under the age of 18.

Victoria Atkins: The research evidence on children’s involvement in serious violence was set out in the government’s Serious Violence Strategy. The strategy can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-violence-strategyThe Ministry of Justice have published a statistical analysis investigating the educational background of young offenders who committed knife and offensive weapon possession offences. This included analysis of the association between offending and school exclusion. The paper can be found here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/716039/examining-the-educational-background-of-young-knife-possession-offenders.pdf

Airports: Immigration Controls

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment of the effect of introducing a UK passports only queue at airports.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations.While we cannot comment on detailed planning, Government departments are working together across a range of complex issues to develop our future approach at the border. These options will be kept under review in light of negotiations with the EU.

Asylum: Housing Benefit

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2018 to Question 143752, on Asylum: Housing Benefit, for what reasons his Department does not publish data on the cessation of support.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not publish support cessation data. Information on numbers of cases who have had support terminated broken down by reason for cessation and by area of the UK, is unavailable and could be produced only at a disproportionate cost.Individuals whose claims for asylum have been refused and are appeal rights exhausted will lose access to s95 support unless they have children. S4 (2) support may be accessible if reasonable steps are being taken to leave the UK or there is a legal or practical obstacle that prevents departure.Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support is available:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#asylum (Volume 4).

Scotland Office

Scots Gaelic Language

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department is taking to enable Gaelic speakers to complete official Government documents in their native language.

David Mundell: I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 10 May 2018 (UIN 141353).

Cabinet Office

Members: Correspondence

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Aberavon sent on 28 March and again on 30 April on the inquiry into infected blood.

Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on Thursday 7 June 2018 REF CDL/1602

Brexit

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the oral evidence of the Permanent Secretary of HMRC of 23 May and 5 June 2018 to the Treasury Committee, which Government departments had seen prior to the publication of the estimated figures of £17 billion to £20 billion for the cost of the maximum facilitation model in a letter to that Committee, dated 5 June 2018, (a) submissions and (b) briefing papers on those figures.

Mr David Lidington: The Government is considering two approaches to a future customs relationship with the EU: a ‘new customs partnership’ and a ‘highly streamlined customs arrangement’. Ongoing analysis continues to support the development of both models. The analysis to support the estimated £17-20 billion figure was published in a letter by the Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to the Treasury Select Committee on 5 June, 2018.

Government Departments: Freedom of Information

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Freedom of Information requests have been made to Government departments in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on the number requests received. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of the independent review by his Department and led by Hugh Harris last year into NHS funding.

Mr David Lidington: In advance of the NHS’s 70th anniversary, the Prime Minister announced her intention to work with the NHS to develop a ten-year plan for the future of the health service, underpinned by a five-year funding offer which will see the NHS budget grow by £20 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24. The Government undertook a range of internal policy development and analysis in advance of the announcement. Such analysis is part of the usual internal work to inform the policy-making process, and it would not be appropriate to release it.

National Security

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to recommendation two of the Capability Review of the Cross Government Funds, published on 28 March 2018, when he plans to publish the country level strategies of the National Security Strategy.

Mr David Lidington: The Government will publish external versions of cross-government strategies, as they are updated, where this is compatible with UK national security.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Liability

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.

George Hollingbery: There have been no contingent liabilities in the Department for International Trade that were less than 14 days’ notice to Parliament.

Trade Promotion: Panama

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to promote trade and exports between the UK and Panama.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade promotion officers (a) are currently active and (b) have been active in each of the last five years in (i) Panama and (ii) Central America.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote regional exports to (a) Central America and (b) Panama.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade missions have taken place to (a) Central America and (b) Panama in each of the last five years.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade (DIT) works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment and championing free trade in Central America and Panama. DIT has recently appointed Jo Crellin as Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean as part of efforts to enhance the support available to British business overseas. DIT offers support to companies in Central America through our teams in Costa Rica and Panama working closely with the FCO across the region in enhancing British trade and Investment. Since the department’s formation in July 2016 there have been 21 staff members posted to Panama and Central America focusing on trade promotion. In addition, DIT has recently appointed Simon Hart, MP, as Trade Envoy for Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. UK Export Finance (UKEF) support is available across Central America; in Panama, specifically we have doubled UKEF’s capacity to £3.5bn and introduced local currency financing. This work was also supported by 37 trade missions to Central America and Panama in the last 5 years. Great.gov.uk is a platform designed by the Department for International Trade to help UK businesses secure their place on the global stage while presenting to overseas companies, including those in Central America, the breadth of industries and investment opportunities in the UK. Since the site was launched in November 2016 it has been visited by over 3 million users, helping overseas businesses connect with UK suppliers.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the maximum number of full-time equivalent staff employed in trade and export promotion in his Department has been; and what the current complement of such staff is.

George Hollingbery: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gaming Machines

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timetable is for the implementation of a £2 limit on fixed-odds betting terminals.

Tracey Crouch: The Government published its response to the consultation on changes to gaming machines and social responsibility measures on 17 May. The Government will deliver the reduction in stake through secondary legislation in due course. We are currently preparing draft regulations needed to make the change, alongside engaging with the gambling industry to ensure they are given sufficient time to implement and complete the technological changes for the reduction in maximum stake for Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals.

Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to sign up to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Michael Ellis: It is necessary to carefully prioritise resources towards those Conventions that will have the most impact on the safeguarding of our heritage, such as the ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property undertaken last year. However, the Government fully recognises the contribution that the UK’s oral traditions, social practices and festive events make to the country’s cultural fabric, and continues to encourage communities to celebrate these practices, keeping them alive for future generations.

Mental Health: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the £20 million investment to help tackle loneliness will be allocated to charities and community groups in Coventry.

Tracey Crouch: Loneliness does not discriminate and can affect any of us, so it is important that we take action to help people establish and maintain connections in their communities. Of the £20 million investment to tackle loneliness: The £11m Building Connections Fund will support a broad range of different activities and will be open to applications from all areas of England, including Coventry. We will share details of successful applicants after the assessment has taken place and aim to fund projects across the whole of England. The £5m from People’s Postcode Lottery will add additional funding to existing grants across Great Britain. The £4m of new grants from Health Lotteries will fund projects in our most deprived communities, across most regions in England.

Arts: Sustainable Development

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking in negotiations with the EU to ensure the sustainability of the UK creative sector after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: We are working closely with the Creative Industries sector to understand the potential impacts and opportunities presented by the UK’s decision to leave the EU. The Secretary of State and I hosted a series of roundtable discussions about the UK's exit with industry representatives from all nine sub-sectors of the Creative Industries, and departmental officials are also in regular contact with stakeholders from these industries to look at the specific concerns of the sectors. In her Mansion House speech, the Prime Minister spoke of her desire to establish with the EU a ‘far reaching pact’ on education and culture similar to that on science and innovation, which could include participation in, and contributions towards, key programmes alongside our European partners.   .

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Policy

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the main policy priority is for his Department for 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) published an updated Single Departmental Plan on 23 May 2018. This set out the department’s main policy objectives and how it will achieve them. Single Departmental Plans will be revised annually to reflect new priorities or changes in responsibilities. DExEU is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the European Union. Its priority is negotiating a orderly withdrawal from the EU and a new comprehensive partnership for the future. We have been working hard and at pace towards achieving that aim. We have made good progress in the negotiations so far having concluded the vast majority of the Withdrawal Agreement, recently reaching agreement on arrangements for goods on the market, Euratom related issues, and on cooperation in civil and commercial matters. We have also begun talks on our future relationship which have covered aspects of our future economic and future security partnerships. With talks ongoing, we remain on track to reach agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement and Future Framework by October 2018.

Women and Equalities

Gender Recognition: Married People

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to ensure that the future process for gender recognition removes the possibility for spousal veto.

Victoria Atkins: The Gender Recognition Act 2004 regulates the gender recognition process. The Government will publish the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act before summer recess. In the consultation, respondents will be able to share their views on the current gender recognition process, including the statutory declaration of consent that is needed from the spouse of applicants. The Government’s response to the consultation will take all responses on this topic into account.

Gender Recognition

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how the Government plans to ensure that the future process for gender recognition is available to people regardless of their financial means or ability.

Victoria Atkins: In the upcoming consultation on the Gender Recognition Act 2004, respondents will be able to share their views on the financial costs involved in applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate. After the consultation, the Government will consider these views and publish our response to the consultation findings, which will set out how we intend to reform the Act.

Gender Recognition: Young People

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of permitting access to the gender recognition process for 16 and 17 year olds.

Victoria Atkins: The age for legal gender recognition is regulated by the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The Government will publish the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act before summer recess. We have assessed the impact of consulting on reforming the gender recognition process as part of our Public Sector Equality Duty. This included considerations on the protected characteristic of age. We will publish a full impact assessment alongside our response to the consultation, when we have made a decision regarding what reform of the Act will look like.

Gender Recognition

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the views of non-binary people are taken into account in its forthcoming consultation on changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Victoria Atkins: We intend to ask about non-binary gender identities as part of the forthcoming consultation on changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This will enable us to build our evidence base further on the issues facing non-binary people. In addition, we regularly engage with non-binary stakeholders on the issues affecting them. We will continue to do so and ensure that their views are adequately taken into account in our work.Finally, we received almost 7,500 responses to our national LGBT survey from people identifying as non-binary. We will be publishing the full results of our survey imminently.

Equal Pay: Private Sector

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to encourage equal pay across genders in private corporations.

Victoria Atkins: The need to pay men and women equally for the same work has been required by statute for nearly 50 years, and we expect employers in the private sector to comply with equal pay law.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has a Statutory Code of Practice on Equal Pay, and provides extensive advice guidance on its website to ensure employers know what is required to comply with the law. The EHRC and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) also provide guidance to help individuals understand their rights and take action if they believe that they are being discriminated against in the pay they receive.Employees who are concerned that they may not be being paid fairly can seek authoritative and free advice from Acas, before deciding whether to bring a claim before an Employment Tribunal. Where an employer is found to have breached equal pay law, an Employment Tribunal can order it to carry out an equal pay audit.Our requirement for all larger employers to publish their gender pay gap is helping to increase transparency of all the factors underlying the endemic differences in pay between men and women.

Pornography: Internet

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to protect women and men who experience revenge porn.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to supporting victims of revenge porn, and funds the Revenge Porn Helpline, which has received over 10,000 calls since it opened in February 2015.The Government has awarded £80,000 to the Helpline for the 2018/19 financial year, to ensure victims of revenge porn continue to receive the support they need.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Staff

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll back-office functions in the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent public body and decisions on staffing requirements are operational matters for the Commission itself. I have therefore asked the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer to write to the Hon member with the information requested. I will place a copy of the letter in the libraries of both Houses.